A New Flame
by Tharkun 140
Summary: Remnant is a dark place, where the strong prey upon the weak and hope is in short supply. Cinder has seen the worst of this grim world and is resolved to change it for better. Her enemies are numerous and powerful, but with a little luck, she can find herself equally powerful allies... even if she has to look in the strangest of places.
1. Deal With The Devil

**I've seen quite a few fics based on some character being evil rather than good – I'm currently writing one, in fact - and vice versa. I've even seen some swaps, for example Cinder being a hero while Ruby is a villain. I decided to take that concept to its logical conclusion; Is it possible to rewrite RWBY so that everyone has their moral alignment completely reversed? I don't know. That's why I'm going to try.**

 **I have no idea how it will turn out. I don't have any long-term plan, so it's possible that the story will be abandoned almost immediately. But if you're reading this, then the first chapter has been posted at least. Enjoy.**

* * *

"What do you desire?"

The question echoed in Cinder's ears. She expected that she would be asked something like that and had an answer prepared, but she couldn't, for the love of dust, recall what that answer was. Perhaps it was due to exhaustion – she had been walking without rest for almost two days before arriving to this strange place. But it was more likely thanks to her fear.

And was she wrong to be afraid? All around her Grimm spawned out of the black pools of bumbling ooze. The sky was dark, and not because of the time. As Cinder knew by now, the sun never shined in this strange realm. But the scariest of all was the woman before her eyes.

Woman? Grimm? _Goddess?_ Cinder heard a lot of things about a being called Salem. Most of which were rather unflattering. Salem was said to be The Queen of the Grimm, a being of pure destruction working to divide and ultimately destroy the entire humanity. She would take people into her service, offering them whatever they could wish for if they only gave up their freedom and their conscience to her. Like Cinder was about to do right now.

Part of her was regretting coming into this realm. Salem turned out to be as scary as the tales described her, with pale skin, black veins and red eyes. She definitely didn't look like somebody you'd want to talk to, let alone serve. But Cinder saw no other option.

"What do you desire?" Salem repeated calmly, but with a bit of pressure added on. Cinder forced herself to focus. What _did_ she desire?

She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be powerful. But those were just means to the end, just like striking a deal with Salem was. It was the only way she saw, and the end was definitely worth whatever price she would have to pay.

"I want to change the world." she answered.

/-/

Cinder grasped her cup with both hands. Mostly because she enjoyed the warmth, but also to make sure that it was, in fact, real and not made of something like baby bones.

"So, what do you mean by changing the world, precisely?" Salem asked after pulling her lips away from her cup. Now that she was sitting down and drinking tea, she wasn't as scary as few minutes ago. Still a little creepy though. The surroundings – a dim-litt room with a giant table and chairs that looked like they were made of bones – didn't help either.

Cinder tried to push away the thoughts about how ridiculous the situation was and focus on providing a satisfying answer instead. There were many ways in which the world could be made a better place, but Cinder didn't want to list them all. A suggestion like 'Kill all Grimm' probably wouldn't make Salem very happy. So instead she decided to focus on less controversial goals.

"For one," her voice carried a certain nervousness with it "I would like to abolish the Kingdoms as they are now. I'd want to abolish slavery, change all those oppressive laws, maybe establish some sort of democracy afterwards…"

Salem stood up from her throne. Cinder wondered if she was about to be killed for saying something wrong, but The Queen simply walked towards the nearest window and gazed through it.

"Tell me," she spoke, again with perfect calm. "Do you know how the current order of society came to be?"

"You mean the Great War?" Cinder took a guess, to which Salem simply nodded.

The Great War… of course Cinder knew the story. And not just the official version – she did some digging and came out with what she assumed was a pretty accurate picture of those events. The war started some ninety years ago. The direct cause for the outbreak were the border disputes between the Kingdoms, but the reasons went deeper. It was a war of ideologies, with Vale and Vacuo championing freedom of self-expression, while Mantle and Mistral fought to stomp it out.

The war lasted for nearly a decade. For the most part, the forces were even, although Mantle and Mistral were able to launch an offensive on Vacuo. Their armies were met with staunch resistance and eventually stared to be pushed back… until they received help from a traitor.

The Traitor King of Vale. Even the propaganda, which insistently tried to sell the monarch as a hero, could get rid of that moniker. He led his army astray and into the slaughter. Some said that he struck his soldiers down himself with some unnatural power, but he most likely just led them into a desert without adequate supplies. By the time his betrayal became known, it was already too late. Vacuo had been conquered and Vale was outgunned and surrounded by enemies. On the island of Vytal, the King has personally signed a capitulation treaty, which allowed Mantle to install more… conservative govenrments into the defeated Kingdoms.

Ever since then, the Kingdoms have remained in peace with each other. And why would they fight, if they were all essentially one and the same now? All throughout Remnant high arts were banned, faunus were treated as second-class citizens at best and all resistance was brutally repressed.

"I know the story." Cinder replied, not wanting to get into detail.

"I'm afraid you don't." Salem stated, her eyes still staring through the window. "You might think you know the true version, but trust me, the truth is much stranger than what you currently believe." The Queen finally turned towards Cinder. There was an expression of anger sprawled across her face now, but it didn't seem to be pointed at Cinder. "Ozpin. Do you recognise that name?"

She did. Professor Ozpin, first name unknown, was a headmaster of Beacon, one of the four huntsmen academies founded right after The Great War. In theory, those were supposed to train fighters so that they could protect people from the danger of Grimm. And yes, huntsmen and huntresses did spend most of their time fighting monsters, but they also had other purpose – to ruthlessly cut down anyone who posed a serious problem for the current world order. During the Faunus Rebellions huntsmen have killed more rebels than all Kingdoms' militaries combined. Almost none of them have shown any mercy to their opponents and some even reveled in their cruelty, commiting atrocities that even the Grimm wouldn't be capable of.

Huntsmen were monsters. And Ozpin was training them.

"I do recognize that name." Cinder replied, not bothering to hide the disgust in her voice.

"And you know what it entails." A tiny smile appeared on Salem's face. "And yet, the things you have heard about that man are but a tip of an iceberg. He is responsible for more evil than you realise. He is the one to blame for the outcome of The War."

"What?" Surprise overpowered both fear and disgust in Cinder's voice. "How would that be? He is old, but nowhere near _this_ old. The Great War was fought long before he was born. Besides, if anyone is to blame for all of this, it would be…"

"The Traitor King of Vale." Salem finished. "That is just one of many aliases Ozpin has amassed over the course of his life. Or rather lives."

Cinder raised her eyebrow at that.

"It is fairly difficult to explain." Salem sighed. "Let me tell you the tale of The Girl in the Tower…"

/-/

Cinder's cup had been empty for a while, but the woman kept holding it with both hands. In a weird way it helped her focus, as she processed what she was told.

There was once a world where the Gods of Light and Darkness lived among men and where humans could wield magic.

Both Gods were cruel deities, who cursed Salem with immortality for demanding to bring back her loved one and destroyed humanity for rebelling against their rule.

Ozpin, or Ozma as he was once known, served the God of Light and sought to unite humanity by any means necessary.

He and Salem built their kingdom together, but it collapsed when Ozma betrayed her in hopes of ruling alone.

He made countless attempts and taking over Remnant and finally succeeded during The Great War.

He wasn't just the headmaster of one huntsmen academy. He was the one responsible for the current state of affairs and the one secretly ruling this messed up world.

All of this sounded crazy. And yet… Cinder was willing to believe it. Maybe sipping tea with The Queen of the Grimm made her more tolerant of weirdness, but the story _did_ make a surprising amount of sense. It even explained why the Moon was shatterred, something that didn't have any reasonable explanation anyway.

And to be honest, Cinder sort of liked things this way. She no longer had to make complicated plans for changing the system from within. Instead, she could focus on combating one specific person, whom she could blame for nearly everything wrong with the world. And The Queen of the Grimm would certainly help her in that regard.

"So… it looks like we have a common enemy." Cinder said after a long period of silence. "If overthrowing Ozpin is your goal, then I would be happy to serve you."

"Indeed we have. But consider this." Salem looked the other woman in her eyes. "There are many people who wish Ozpin harm, and yet I don't seek to make a pact with any of them. What makes you so special that I'm supposed to give you my resources and attention?"

"Well," Cinder was luckily prepared for that sort of question. "I am a skilled combatant. I have trained my aura-control for a long time now, I'm an excellent archer and I know some tricks involving the use of dust."

"Then you might survive a fight if you get into one." Salem commented dryly. "What else?"

"People say I'm clever." Cinder continued, now focusing on her non-combat talents. "I can certainly be resourceful, even manipulative if I really want. I posses…" Cinder hesitated for a moment." …certain attributes which might help me deal with men, or women with alternate preferences. But more importantly… I'm willing to give anything to achieve my goals."

"I hear that pretty often." Salem sighed. "People come to me and claim that they'll do anything if I just…"

"I didn't say I'll do anything." Cinder said before she could stop herself, interrupting Salem. She half-expected The Queen to punish her for insolence, perhaps with an instant death, but Salem simply looked at her curiously. Cinder decided to elaborate. "I said that I would _give_ anything to achieve my goals. As if, something that is mine. My property, my dignity, my life… anything, as long as I get to make a change. But there are some things I won't do. I won't kill an innocent person, that is for sure. I won't torture anybody, unless they are guilty of something and there is a _very_ good reason to. And I will not champion any order that is worse than the current one. If you want me to do any of these things… then I'm afraid I'll be useless to you."

Cinder wondered if she was too direct. Probably so, but it was for the best. If Salem thought her wannabe servant would commit to evil, she was wrong and she should know as much.

Yet again, Cinder prepared for a punishment, whatever it may be. But again, it didn't come. The Queen remained silent for a few moments, as if thinking intensively, before she spoke once more,

"Even with your talents, there are people who would serve me better. People who could, in theory, do just as much as you and who aren't tied up by their notions of morality."

"But you," she continued after a short pause. "you have came before me only to list all the things you _won't_ do for me. I can sense you are afraid, there's no use hiding it, but that fear doesn't bind you. If you are able to retain your principles in a situation like this… then maybe you have something others do not. That's why I'll give you my support."

The last sentence echoed in Cinder's ears. She apparently succeeded in gaining Salem's favor… but was that necessarily a good thing? What would her help involve? Would Cinder get turned into a Grimm? Would she be forced to lead an army of those beings, destroying humanity in its entirety? What if that was the reason why Salem didn't seem to care about her new servant's moral quandaries.

"What will that support entail?" Cinder felt silly to ask such a direct question, but she needed to know some of the specifics. She didn't doubt that Salem's help would be invaluable, but it was still possible that the price would overweigh…

"I can offer you a pile of lien and an airship. Also you can pick yourself a weapon from the armory."

Cinder stared at Salem blankly.

"What? Are these not helpful? You don't seem to have much right now." The Queen said after a few seconds.

"Uhm, of course my Queen, I appreciate your help." Cinder said hastily. "It's just that I expected something…"

"What did you expect?" Salem interrupted. "Some mystic power? Your own army? Maybe a carriage to take you to your new castle, and a new dress so that you look the part?"

The following silence was pretty telling.

Suddenly, Salem laughed. It wasn't any sort of evil laughter, just the sort of giggle you would expect from a woman who found something funny. It made The Queen look much more human in Cinder's eyes.

"I am sorry," she said after composing herself. "but I can only give you so much. If I had the power to overthrow Ozpin just like that, I would have done so long ago."

"I get that," Cinder replied, now a bit less scared. "but aren't you, well, The Queen of the Grimm? I imagined you as having more power than that, no offence."

"A moniker." Luckily, Salem didn't seem to be offended. "I do have some control over the Grimm, but it is sadly limited. And besides, those creatures, while deadly, are rarely intelligent. For tasks more complicated than just killing random people – which I assure you, I don't do much of - I only have a handful of subordinates."

So that was what all the other chairs were for. It was strange to think that this room was likely large enough to house all of The Queen's forces. Her resources were very much finite; A limited influence over the Grimm, several capable servants and an arsenal that didn't compare to that of a single huntsmen academy. Cinder was in equal parts surprised and disappointed.

"I know that isn't what you were hoping for," Salem said, sensing the other woman's emotions "but look at it this way; I am giving you a chance to achieve your goals. To fulfill your destiny. It is not a guarantee, I can only get you started. Unlike in the stories you must have heard, there is no ultimate price to pay nor a clever catch. You don't have to sell your soul or kill your first-born child. I offer you my resources in exchange for a promise that you will use them to fight Ozpin. Everything else is up to you."

It really wasn't what Cinder had been hoping for… but, in a way, maybe it was even better. She thought she would be making a deal with the devil, taking a shortcut to her goal. But wasn't destiny something you had to take into your own hands? Right now Cinder had a clear purpose set and there was someone who was willing to help her reach it.

It was more hope than she had throughout her entire life thus far. And so, Cinder replied:

"Where do I sign up?"


	2. First Steps

**Second chapter. It took me quite a while to write it, mostly because of my own laziness and tendency to write several different stories at once, but here you go.**

* * *

A day after her first meeting with Salem, Cinder was once again sitting at the table in a large, dim-lit room. There was no tea this time, so the woman was unable to focus her attention on a cup. She instead paid attention to the face of the people around her.

Watts. Tyrian. Hazel. Salem introduced Cinder to them and called her a new member of their faction. None of the three men questioned, let alone protested the Queen's decision, though it still seemed as if they didn't like Cinder very much. It wasn't hatred, just... disapproval. It was as if they didn't believe their new coworker would prove herself very useful.

Cinder would prove them wrong... in time. Right now, she was content to keep silent and passively listen to the conversations at the table.

"Welcome you all." Salem said in a ceremonial tone. "I am glad to see you all alive and well, doubly so for the two of you." She tilted her head towards the right side of the table, where Hazel and Tyrian sat.

"I do not think myself worthy of your concern, my goddess." Tyrian replied in a poetic tone Cinder already knew to be his usual way of speaking. Watts rolled his eyes, while Hazel didn't react in any visible way. That, too, seemed to be their typical behavior.

"Do not feign humility, Tyrian" Salem retorted. "You are a valuable asset to our cause and you know it very well. Speaking of which, can you tell us exactly how well your mission went?"

"I believe I have fulfilled my objectives to your satisfaction, my Queen." Tyrian responded. "Shiro Wan fought valiantly for a rat he was, but he fell to my blades in the end."

"It is good to hear." Pride washed all over Tyrian's face as Salem said that. "Now Watts, will you give us a summary, I repeat, a summary of your recent project?"

"Of course, ma'am. The Black Queen virus is already operational, but I wouldn't call it complete. It is far from perfection and if we were to try and infect our enemies' systems right now, they would likely detect and repel the attack quite easily."

"You said it is not complete yet. Does it mean that you expect it to be able to outgrow these flaws in the future?" Salem asked

"Yes." Watts nodded. "I will just need more time to work on it."

"Excellent indeed. But I will have to ask you to temporarily cease working on that project. Your talents will serve another purpose for the next several days. I will tell you the details shortly."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, Hazel," Salem turned towards the bulky man sitting opposite of Cinder. "Is Sienna Khan still willing to cooperate with us?"

"Yes, ma'am." Hazel responded in that deep voice of his. "She believes me to be a solitary, but experienced warrior and she values my insight. Even should she cease to follow my advice, it is very unlikely she will stop opposing Ozpin and his regime. Her resolve to liberate her kind is truly unflinching. The White Fang can be counted amidst our allies."

The White Fang. An underground organization created shortly after the Faunus Rebellions, when it became clear that the current world regime could not be toppled by sheer force alone. From what she has heard, they focused on freeing the slaves throughout the Kingdoms and damaging the regime through sabotage and 'terrorist' action. It made sense that Salem and her servants would like to ally with them, as both factions had largely the same enemies.

Yet, there was something Cinder could not quite understand. Slowly and somewhat nervously, she raised her hand as if she was in a classroom.

"I am relieved to hear that. The White Fang's support should prove invaluable to our..." Salem noticed Cinder's raised hand. "Yes, Cinder?"

"There is something I don't understand." the woman spoke, ignoring the looks she was getting from the other three people at the table. "Hazel said that he is posing as a lone figure. If we are working alongside the White Fang, why should we hide ourselves from them? Isn't that a bit counterproductive?"

Watts snickered after hearing that, though a stern look from Salem caused him to assume a stoic expression once again.

"While having allies is important and while the White Fang would likely work with us had they known the truth, secrecy is far more important in the end." Salem explained. "Ozpin and his lieutenants control most military forces in Remnant. The only way we can fight them is through stealth, subterfuge and subtlety."

Cinder nodded. She didn't necessarily agree with such a strategy - she though secrecy was something reserved for enemies, not for friends and allies - but she could certainly see its merits.

"I fear you will have to learn those principles soon enough." the Queen continued. "For I already have a task for you that will require such tactics."

Everyone at the table was visibly interested by the conversation, though in Hazel's case said interest was only shown by his eyebrows being raised. It looked like Salem was about to give Cinder her first task. It would probably be less of a real mission and more of a test of some sorts. Something that would let the new member of the group show off her skills, but nothing that would be too much for her to handle or would damage Salem's cause in case of failure...

"I want you to infiltrate Beacon Academy."

This statement was followed by a moment of silence. Salem might as well have said that... no, there was probably nothing she could have said that would make the people around her more surprised.

"Ma'am." Watts was clearly weighing his words carefully. "I fail to see any potential advantage to assigning such an important task to a novice like her. It feels like you are sending her to a certain..."

"I'll do it." Cinder interrupted. She was just a surprised as everyone else and there was a tinge of fear in her voice, but she wouldn't show any signs of hesitation. "I will infiltrate Beacon Academy, if that is my mission."

Another moment of silence.

"Oh, I understand now!" Tyrian exclaimed. "That was simply a test, to see how obedient the girl is. I admire your cunning, my dear Queen. I admit that..."

"No, Tyrian." Salem's voice wasn't loud or angry, but it was very firm. "Cinder has expressed a desire to combat Ozpin and his conspiracy, so I thought that task appropriate for her."

"Isn't that a little too big for her?" Hazel also voiced his doubts, though in a more subdued way.

"She does not seem to think so." Salem fixed her stare at Cinder. "Do you? It is not a test of any kind. I can give you a simpler task if you would prefer it that way."

"I _will_ do it." Cinder replied, managing to keep her voice unflinching this time around.

"Then it is settled."

"Ma'am, I really do not wish to question your decisions and I will obey your orders." Watts said. "But I would like to know what is the plan behind that particular decision."

"Beacon is Ozpin's main base of operations and, for all intents and purposes, the centre of power for his entire regime." Salem explained, calmly and slowly, as though she was talking to a child. "While I doubt it can be destroyed by a singular agent, there is much knowledge to be gained by planting a mole in the Academy. And perhaps an opportunity will arise to eliminate some target of importance. Beacon's teachers are all experienced huntsmen, after all, and I am certain at least some of them have been let into Ozpin's conspiracy."

"No dispute there." Watts commented dryly. "My question is why is _she_ supposed to be said mole? She has been with us since yesterday. We have no idea about how competent she is."

"And we never will." Salem replied, earning questioning looks from around the table. "There is no way to know how somebody will fair in such a task, because there is no suitable test to make. At the very least, Cinder appears to be the most suitable person around here. She is strong, intelligent and isn't much older than an average huntsmen initiate. Most importantly, however, she is an unknown to our enemies, the only one of us who can even think about carrying out that type of mission. Unless has she already done something that would make her recognizable. Have you?" Salem turned towards Cinder while asking the question.

Cinder simply shook her head in response. No, she hadn't had an opportunity to fight the regime on a large scale as of yet. She was a criminal, but it wasn't likely for anyone to recognize her.

"Exactly. While I'm not saying it is likely our new companion will surely succeed, she is the only person known to me who _can_ succeed. That makes sending her a reasonable choice."

"But won't her failure compromise our future attempts at such an endeavor?" Hazel asked.

 _Won't. As if my failure was inevitable._ Unlike the other two men, Hazel didn't sound as though he was trying to demean Cinder. He honestly didn't believe that she had any chance at completing this mission.

That wasn't very reassuring.

"I believe not." Salem responded. "All it would tell our enemies is that we seek to infiltrate their ranks, something they are well aware of already. The risk to our cause is fairly minimal."

"But the risk for her is death. An incredibly painful one, should she be caught alive." Hazel said, now looking directly at Cinder. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

 _No._

"Yes. I will take any risk necessary." Cinder replied, managing to sound sort of confident.

"You heard her, Hazel." Salem said, looking over the people in the room. "Are there any other objections you would like to make?"

Everyone remained silent.

"Excellent. I will assign rest of you your missions in a few days. Until then, please help Cinder prepare for her task in what ways each one of you is able to."

All three men were now looking at Cinder with various blends of hostility and interest. She certainly did an impression on them, for better or worse.

 _First steps on my noble mission, I guess._

 _/-/_

"First name?" Watts asked, not looking at Cinder. His eyes were stuck on sheet of paper on which he was about to write.

"I'll just go with Cinder." The woman also wasn't focused on her interlocutor, instead eyeing up the various items in Watt's study room. They ranged from rather normal, like microscopes or medical equipment, to downright bizarre, such as mechanical arms with tools instead of hands.

Now that she thought about it, what exactly was Watts doctor of? He seemed to be concerned with at least four areas of science. One person could not possibly fit so much knowledge into their head. It was just implausible.

Then again, so was the idea of Grimm having a Queen or Headmaster Ozpin being an immortal wizard.

"Are you sure about that?" The omnidisciplinary scientist asked. "The authorities won't be able to unmask you based on the first name alone, but it you won't be able to disguise yourself from someone who knew you beforehand."

"I will take that risk." Cinder doubted she would run into anyone she knew during her mission. Everyone who knew her personally was either unimportant or dead.

"As you wish." Watts replied dryly. "Last name?"

"I don't have any preference." Cinder shrugged. "Do you have an idea for a name that wouldn't stand out as strange?"

"You want me to find you a name? Do you even care about your mission?"

"I do. I'm just fairly bad with names." Cinder replied. "And didn't Salem say that you will do all the paperwork?"

"I suppose I can humor you..." Watts spent the next several seconds thinking silently. "How about Fall?"

"Fall? As in, falling or a season?"

"Does the symbolism even matter? This name has everything needed. It is very easy to remember, rolls of a tongue and has a color association."

Right. These days nearly everyone had a name that was also a color or made people think of a color in some way. The trend begun soon after the war - people protested the new anti-expression policies by naming their children after colors. After a while the governments responded to that by making any other names illegal to use, thus restricting citizen's freedom even more. Cinder found that fairly amusing, in a grim way that is.

"Cinder Fall does sound fairly good." She shrugged. "I'll take it. Is there anything else you want me to pick myself?"

"I will fill out the rest of the data, unless you have some preference over things like birth date. After I'm done, I will prepare some transcripts for Beacon and send you on your way. Unless..." Watts frowned as though he was thinking about something intensely.

"What's the matter?" Cinder asked.

"As you undoubtedly know, huntsmen are sorted into teams upon joining the academy. If you go there alone, you will be forced to spend most of your time with people who wouldn't know about your mission and if they found out, they wouldn't hesitate to rat you out."

"Right. So what do you suggest?"

"I am not as much suggesting, as offering something. I could try to gather several people to accompany you on your mission, so that you could try to form a team with them."

"Those were two 'could' in the same sentence." Cinder noticed. "You don't like the idea very much, do you?"

"No I don't. Do not get me wrong, it would be beneficial if we managed to assemble a loyal team around you, but 'if' is a keyword in that sentence. Few people are strong enough to survive Beacon training, and only a fraction of those would be willing to join a mission like that."

Survive. Not avoid getting expelled or something like this, that wasn't a regular school they were talking about. Once you got into a huntsmen academy, you either graduated or you died trying. Many did die during their training - some people said that for every huntsmen alive there was an unfortunate student ten feet below the ground. It was harsh, but many aspiring huntsmen and huntresses found the prize worth the risk.

"I have many contacts all over Remnant." Watts continued. "I know quite a few young fighters, some of them strong enough to stand a chance of surviving in Beacon. But only a chance. I cannot guarantee you that whoever I assign to you won't die during the initiation or shortly afterwards."

And that was why Cinder wouldn't accept this plan. To drag somebody into her fight only to watch them die in it? That was unacceptable. The woman slowly shook her head.

"Well, I suppose you will have to go to beacon alone. It will make things simpler, at least." Watts said and then returned to the documents.

Cinder wondered if she made the right choice there. She would feel much safer if someone was with her to watch her back, but she wouldn't recruit anyone below Beacon's standards on the off chance they might survive. Going on her own was the best option. Unless...

"If you want, you can go train or do something else." Watts said, not looking at Cinder. He was still focused on the paperwork. "No need for you to stand here. I will fill out the rest and inform the Queen about your..."

"Wait." Cinder interrupted the scientist. "You said that you do not know anyone really strong who would be willing to help me, which is fair enough. But what if I found someone like that on my own? Would you provide some fake documents for them as well?"

"I prefer the term 'enhanced documents'. And how would you find someone like that when I am unable to?" Watts was clearly skeptical of Cinder's idea.

"Just look in places. I know that sound silly, but you don't go out very often, do you?" Watts' silence was essentially a confirmation in this case. "Being able to talk to someone in person gives me an advantage already. I have still over two months until the next semester begins in Beacon, so I might as well spend this time looking for suitable people. If I fail, I will just have to go alone as you think I should."

"You are correct. It sounds silly to say the least." Watts sighed. "But the Queen puts a good deal of faith in you, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt as well. I just hope you won't prove us both wrong."

Cinder hoped so as well.

 _/-/_

Cinder eyed up the items in the armory. There was a multitude of them, ranging for simple sword and guns to some of the most intricate mecha-shift weapons she had ever seen. She wasn't really interested in the former - she has always found those kind of weapons to be needlessly overcomplicated. Why would you have a single weapon with two forms, when you could just carry two weapons with you? She would never understand what problem huntsmen had with practicality.

"As you know, you can pick whatever you like from here." Tyrian said, his voice expressing boredom. "If you have any questions as to how something works, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I think I will be alright." Cinder responded. She wasn't about to pick any of the more complex weapons anyway. Instead, she began looking for something that was both simple and suitable for her fighting style.

There were three or four bows hanging on the walls, but Cinder liked the one she had been using recently and didn't feel a need to acquire a new one. She did, however, took a few arrows that she thought looked interesting.

"You should really get a melee weapon." Tyrian said. "If it ever comes to close quarter fighting, you will be defenseless with just your fists to protect yourself."

Cinder, while somewhat irritated by the faunus' comment, had to admit he was right. She wasn't _completely_ defenseless in close quarters, but some weapon would be very useful if she ever fought an intelligent opponent capable of shortening the distance effectively, as opposed to Grimm that just charged at her straight on.

Most melee weapons were hilariously impractical. Mecha-shifting aside, thing like scythes or sickles belonged in a farm, not in an armory. Others weren't that bad, but didn't suit Cinder personally. She preferred something lighter than a greataxe, though maybe larger than a dagger.

She focused on the swords. Being likely the most popular out of all close-quarter weapons, there were in plentiful supply and in multitude of different forms. One handed and two-handed. Single edged and double-edged ones. All sizes, from greatsword to foils. Analyzing how each one of these would fare in battle made Cinder's head hurt a little.

"Maybe just pick something that complements your semblance?" Tyrian advised, seeing his new coworker hesitate.

"I... never unlocked it." Cinder said, not without some embarrassment.

"Really? Well, just pick something that catches your eye." Tyrian shrugged. "It's not the weapon that makes a huntsman. Or a huntress for that matter."

Right. Cinder couldn't just stand there all day long, she had to pick something eventually. Her gaze wondered towards two twin blades. And that was the best way to describe them, as they bore little resemblance to any particular type of sword. Still, they seemed well-made and, from what she could see, didn't have any additional machinery packed into it. It meant that they were probably lighter than a mecha-shift weapon of this kind and definitely easier to maintain.

Cinder's suspicions were confirmed once she grabbed one of the blades. Aside from being relatively light, it was surprisingly well-balanced and fit her hand fairly well. She could probably dual-wield these swords into battle if she wanted to, though she obviously wouldn't do something as silly as that. Still, having a spare blade wouldn't hurt.

It was as good of a choice as any. Cinder turned back towards Tyrian and, upon seeing him giving her a questioning look, nodded her head.

"It's a good choice, I suppose." He said without much enthusiasm. "These two I brought with myself from one of my missions in Mistral. They are reliable weapons, if that's what you are looking for."

"Those two look good." Cinder admitted. "I think that's all I will take."

"Then it looks like we're done here." Tyrian clearly didn't bother to keep relief out of his voice. "Just out of curiosity though, what are you going to name them?"

Name them? Oh, right. Naming one's weapons was another weird tradition huntsmen subscribed to and it stood to reason that she should follow that tradition if she was going to pretend to be a huntress. Still, she had no idea what kind of names she should choose, as there was seemingly no rule for how those were chosen and she wasn't feeling very creative at the moment.

"I don't know. I'll figure something out later. I have a lot of time until Beacon starts anyway."

 _Procrastinating? How adult of you, Cinder._

Tyrian just shrugged, turned around and left the room. Cinder took another look at the swords she picked and then at the arrows she had put in her quiver by then.

Those were her weapons against evil. They were certainly well-made, good enough to kill Grimm, but would they be enough to deal with everything she would stand against? Against an entire world?

Only time would tell.

/-/

Cinder barely managed to dodge Hazel's fist by jumping back. Even then, she didn't get much time to breathe, as the bulky man immediately jumped at her again, seemingly trying to grab her the throat. this time she ducked underneath her hand and was prepared to slash with her sword... only to receive another punch, this one much more accurate than the previous one.

Air was driven out of Cinder's lungs and the force of the strike literally sent the woman flying. She landed several meters further, painfully falling on a rocky ground.

 _How is he so fast? With his size he should be slower than me, not faster than I can react to!_

But apparently, Hazel was that fast. They had been training for about two hours now and Cinder only managed to score a couple of minor hits at her opponent, while he had been continuously knocking her around all the way throughout the exercise. He would occasionally give her some advice during the first hour regarding her bladework, but by now he was just silently beating her senseless.

"You appear exhausted." Hazel said, looking at Cinder with something approaching concern. "You should give it up for today, or at least rest for a while before starting again."

Those words could have been easily delivered as mockery, but they weren't. Unlike Watts or Tyrian, Hazel never bothered to demean Cinder in any way and appeared, in fact, dedicated to making her stronger. This man would be probably Cinder's favorite person in the caste, if not for all the pain and bruises he caused her.

"I can still stand." Cinder responded and proved her words by standing up, albeit on shaky legs. No matter how much she hated that kind of training, she needed to become stronger somehow, and human instructor was in every way better than the Grimm.

"Some people would find that attitude respectable." Hazel said, crossing his hands. "Even I do, to a degree. But you might yet find yourself in a situation where backing down is the most sensible thing to do. Then, it might become a problem."

"Don't be ridiculous." Cinder retorted. "I'm not an idiot, I will run if it lets me achieve my goal. But right now, my goal is to get stronger and so I will continue fighting you for as long as I can."

"Hm." Hazel expressed a level of interest in Cinder now. "Suppose you wanted to actually beat me. If I wasn't your instructor, but target. How would you approach the task?"

"I wouldn't try to take you head on." Cinder was caught off guard by that question, but she answered to the best of her ability. "But it really depends on why you happened to be my target. I would not go all out on an innocent person or someone who was just following orders."

"Suppose that I'm pure evil then. That the world will be a better place with me dead. What would you do then?"

"The most obvious option would be an arrow to the head." Cinder replied. "If that was impossible or impractical for some reason, I would probably resort to adding some toxic dust to you drink. If you gave me the details of that situation, I'm pretty sure I would figure out something else."

"I do not doubt that." Hazel was now giving her a judgmental, somewhat surprised look. "You exhibit some talent at killing people, based on that response alone."

"Maybe I do." Cinder blushed, and it wasn't because she considered that comment a compliment. "But as I said, I will not use that talent against innocent people."

"Even if it suited your goals?" Hazel asked, one of his eyebrows raised.

"Even then." Cinder affirmed. "I do not have a license to kill people who simply happened to stand in my way. If I justified that somehow, I would eventually find a way to justify anything. I know where that road leads and I will not walk it."

"I see." Hazel said, nodding his head. "I suppose I misjudged you. Our Queen is right to see potential in you, though only time will tell if it will be enough."

"Well, if I'm supposed to realize that potential, I should keep training, shouldn't I?" Cinder said, picking up the sword.

"I will humor you then." Hazel replied and launched another fist at Cinder.

Again, she wasn't quite fast enough to dodge.

/-/

Cinder looked over the desolate landscape, filled with Grimm of many different species. Beowolves, Ursai, Deathstalkers and many others were forming out of the black ooze and roaming the wasteland, seemingly seeking prey. After spending over a month in that place, Cinder got somewhat used to tat sight, but she still was glad to be leaving Salem's domain.

While walking down the steps from the fortress, she was once again trying to remember if there was something she had forgotten about, but it appeared as though she had everything she really needed. Her weapons, which meant both her old bow and a set of arrows as well as her new twin blades, were all there, ready to be equipped at any moment. She had several files of lien in the pockets of her pants and jacket, amounting to nearly fifty thousand in cash. Food rations and other mundane supplies have all been loaded onto the airship she was walking towards.

It was a weird thing. It had a small airscrew at the back as a propellant, but it was only kept afloat by a set of giant wings. And not the kind planes had - those were actual, leathery winds that moved without any visible mechanism.

As far as Cinder understood, the aircraft was operated by a Geist possessing the shell, which was sort of creepy, but it also meant that there was no need for a pilot, let alone a larger crew. Cinder could just order Grimm to fly her somewhere and wait until the voyage was over.

She had much more than when she came to this domain, yet it still seemed so little when she considered the scope of her task. Even her immediate mission - finding herself suitable companions - appeared quite hard when she tried to figure out the specifics of it. Where _exactly_ she would go? Who _exactly_ she would ask for help? And how would she judge who was trustworthy or not, in a world so filled with deceit?

Cinder shook these thoughts away. She would just have to trust destiny to guide her. It sounded incredibly stupid, but since there was no way she could predict everything that would be thrown her way, good or bad. She could as well trust her luck.

Cinder approached the airship and its open hatch. She was just about to enter when she heard a quiet rustle coming from behind her. When she turned around, she saw Salem walking, or rather floating towards her.

Cinder instinctively took a step back, almost falling into the ship. This caused Salem to stop and stare at her servant with what looked like a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"Are you surprised to see me?" Salem asked, approaching Cinder. "You surely seem so."

"Well, yes. I wasn't expecting to see you before taking off." Cinder responded. Salem already heard her plans and approved of them, so she didn't expect that the Queen would wish to talk with her any further.

"Is it so strange that I wanted to see my employee before she marches into unknown?" Salem said, not sounding all too serious. "It makes sense that I would want to wish you luck personally on your mission, considering how dangerous it is bound to be."

"I suppose so. But is it the only reason you came to see me?"

"Not exactly." Salem said with a small smile. "I also have something to give you."

With that, the Queen of the Grimm stretched out her arm and opened the palm. There were four small items in her hand - a golden ring and what looked like three small seeds.

"The seeds are some my most precise creations. If you bury one in the ground and wait for several minutes, a Seer Grimm will emerge. I believe you saw one of these in the fortress. It will allow you to communicate with me regardless of the distance and will most likely kill anyone who tries to eavesdrop on our conversation. You will probably have to kill it once you are done, so that the huntsmen do not find the Grimm in your quarters, so please do not use these three right away."

"I understand. What about the ring?" Right now, Cinder was more interested in jewelry rather than some seeds. Partially because the ring was pretty, but also because she doubted it was just a piece of golden metal.

"It is a trinket from the age of magic." Salem explained. "It has the power to create and manipulate the matter of glass. I wouldn't call it exceptionally powerful, but it does somewhat compensate for your lack of semblance."

While Cinder wished her mistress had been more tactful - the lack of an unlocked semblance was quite a big deal for her - she was grateful for that additional bit of help.

"Thank you." Cinder said taking the items and putting them into one of her pockets. "Mind if I ask, is there a reason you didn't give me those earlier?"

"There was no reason to give you the seeds earlier, as they do not require any practice to use." Salem replied. "As for the ring, I wanted you to focus on honing your sword-fighting skills, rather than experimenting with magic right away."

Cinder nodded her head in understanding. That made sense.

"Also, I figured it was more dramatic this way."

That didn't.

"Dramatic? You mean you want this to look like some sort of story?" Cinder asked. While Salem did have a dark throne and an imposing fortress, she usually didn't act too theatrically, unlike now.

"No. But you do." Salem's voice was perfectly neutral, as if she was making a simple, objective statement. "You want life to be a story with you as a hero. Isn't that right?"

"Perhaps." Cinder admitted reluctantly, only to immediately add an amendment. "But don't worry, I hold no delusions about life. I know that mission will not be any sort of a heroic tale. For all I know, I might get damasked and killed immediately upon entering Beacon."

"Do not be silly." Salem said dismissively. "If Ozpin found out you are a spy, he would have you tortured for information and then executed as to make an example out of you. You would not be allowed to die for a long time."

Well that wasn't very encouraging.

"On the other hand, you may succeed. It is perfectly possible that you will prove yourself a valuable agent for our cause and even that you will, in time, complete your self-imposed mission of reshaping the world to suit your ideals."

"Do you truly believe that?" Cinder asked. Asking such a direct question was foolish, as there was nothing to stop Salem from simply lying in response. Still, Cinder needed some reassurance right now.

"Yes." The Queen replied. "I believe that there are happy endings in life. And more importantly, I believe in you."

"But why?" Cinder kept asking. "I am not anyone truly special, you said as much back during our first meeting. Why would you put your faith in me specifically? Why would you believe in me when I haven't given you a reason to do so?"

"Because you believe in yourself. That is all it takes." Salem responded, staring into Cinder's eyes. "Now go. You have more important things to do than talking about abstract concepts like faith or destiny."

Cinder nodded and watched Salem turn back and walk... float... towards her castle. Once again, Cinder wondered what she has gotten into by making a deal with a being like that. What if she would end up having to compromise her ethics to maintain the cooperation with the Queen of the Grimm? Cinder already said that she wouldn't kill innocents or support tyranny, but there were many ways it could still go wrong. Salem wasn't a monster in the same way Ozpin appeared to be, but she wasn't exactly _good_ either and there was no telling if their goals were mutually compatible in the end.

Still, Salem did help Cinder make her first steps on her journey. Hopefully she would end up doing Remnant a favor this way.

Cinder entered the airship and stepped into the pilot cabin. There was no pilot or even a seat for one there, just a one-eyed face of a Geist demanding directions. It was time for the flight to begin.

"To Vale." Cinder said, looking in the city's general direction. Naturally, all she saw were rocks, Grimm and pools of bumbling ooze.

But behind the horizon was her destination. And she would reach it shortly.

* * *

 **And that would be it. I couldn't find the resolve to write this particular story for a while, but I eventually managed to write this chapter as well as revise the first one so that it contains less errors.**

 **I also considered rewriting it so that it is narrated using first-person perspective and keeping it this way for the rest of the story, but my 'beta-readers' advised me against it. You can voice your opinion regarding that in the reviews. Or your opinions regarding the story in general. I would appreciate it. I like reviews, even when they are not very positive. They help me recognize the strong and weak aspects of my writing so that I can strive to become a decent writer one day.**

 **I would also welcome any suggestions as to how I should name Cinder's weapons, as your ideas would undoubtedly be better than those I'm considering right now. Those huntsmen and their weird traditions...**


	3. Thieves and Robbers

**Another chapter. I wrote it as my priority, partially to compensate the two people who have been following this story from the start the previous, month-long wait. I hope the subsequent chapters will keep coming out at a constant rate.**

* * *

Looking for allies was harder than Cinder thought it would be.

She never thought it would be _easy_. She was convinced that it would take her a lot of effort and likely drain most of her resources, but she still expected that to go _somewhere_. For the last week, her search has yielded absolutely no positive results. Cinder was still alone, still at the square one.

What had she been thinking exactly when she offered to recruit some people herself? That she would just spot a wannabe huntsmen on the street, holding a neon sign and waiting for someone to befriend them? Or maybe that one of the minor drug dealers she came in contact with would happen to know a powerful fighter looking for work?

Going straight to Vale seemed like a good idea at the time. She had reasoned that, since it was one of the largest cities in the world and one with a highly developed criminal underworld. The plan looked reasonable at the first glance. She would just sneak into the capitol, find some information dealers or something of the likes, find some capable people to recruit, form a team and proceed to Beacon. Easy, right?

Except it wasn't. At all. Cinder knew a thing or two about criminal organizations, but that knowledge seemed to be useless when applied to Vale. Unlike in some other parts of Remnant, there were no large criminal families here who unofficially ruled everything and could provide anything at the right price. In Vale, criminals were simply criminals. They operated in secrecy and whatever gangs they formed only offered drugs and subpar weapons. Nothing that she was interested in.

At the moment, Cinder was sitting on a chair in some cafe in the centre of Vale. The place was fairly nice - everything was clean and there wasn't much commotion at this time of the day - but at the same time it felt rather cheerless. Dull. Colorless. Everything, from the placing of the tables to the coffee itself was optimized so that it followed regulations established by a government that hated self-expression. It was like that in all of Vale, or any of the other Four Kingdoms for that matter.

And at her current pace, Cinder wouldn't be changing that any time soon. She considered calling Watts and telling him that she would be going to Beacon alone after all, but she was reluctant to admit defeat that early on. She still had about a month until the start of the semester and she would use that time to its fullest.

So instead of pulling out her scroll and making a call, she focused on another little gadget. The ring that Salem gave her was now resting on Cinder's finger and seemed to glitter ever so slightly. She had been learning how to use it whenever she had a while to herself during the last several days and she had already reached a level of proficiency with it. Just as the Queen said, the ring allowed its user to manipulate glass, which could range from getting it vibrate slightly to levitating it into the air.

Right now, Cinder didn't want to throw shards of glass around, but since she was still waiting for somebody to take her order, she figured there was no harm practicing a little more.

She poured a bit of aura into her finger and focused her attention on the glass table she was sitting at. She didn't want to break it, just force the material to vibrate. And sure enough, the ring soon started glittering a bit brighter and the table started to shake slightly.

Cinder wondered if that was how having a semblance felt like. Having direct control over some aspect of reality. It even worked based on aura, though having to use an item took away some of the charm.

She had to stop her little experiment when she saw a waitress coming over to her. She was a young woman with dark skin and green hair, dressed in an uniform that revealed an unusual amount of cleavage.

"What will be your order, ma'am?" She asked with evidently forced politeness. Cinder couldn't blame the girl - if she worked in a place like that, she would probably come to hate everything about it after a while, including the customers.

"Right, I would like..." Cinder quickly scanned the menu card in from of her. Her choice was somewhat limited, though she didn't care much about what brand of coffee she would be drinking. She just needed an energy boost. "A cup of Atlesian Black, please."

"In a moment." The waitress said, after which she quickly left Cinder's sight. Cinder was surprised at how brief the conversation had been - waiters in places like that would usually at least exchange some pleasantries before asking for an order and marching away. It was pretty fitting though, as it made the employees seem just as lifeless as everything else in this cafe.

Cinder sighed. She felt as though she was wasting her time sitting there, even though she had no idea what else she should be doing. She would renew her search once the night fell, but until then, sitting and drinking coffee seemed as good of an activity as anything else. And at least she could still practice with her...

Cinder blinked.

Her ring was gone. It had been on her finger half a minute earlier, but now it was nowhere to be seen.

How was that possible? There was simply no time for her to lose it and there certainly was no time for anyone to steal the thing. Not that stealing a ring from someone's finger was possible anyway.

Or was it? Cinder looked around, trying to spot the waitress she just talked to. She wasn't around. Cinder supposed the girl could have just left for the backroom very quickly, but it didn't seem very probable. The exit door was much closer to Cinder's table and could be reached with less trouble.

With that in mind, Cinder got up and burst through the door. The street outside wasn't particularly crowded, so she quickly spotted her target - a person with characteristically green hair, moving far too rapidly for a random passerby. She was practically running, in fact, undoubtedly trying to leave the scene of a crime as quickly as possible.

Well, it was time to catch a thief.

Eyes locked on her target, Cinder started to run as well. She knew that she would catch the attention of the people around her and that it wasn't exactly desirable given her mission, but right now it was a minor problem compared to what was at stake.

She couldn't lose the ring. Partially because it was a valuable weapon and a gift from Salem herself - not something you would want to let go of just like that - but also because it was too damn dangerous for anyone other than her to use. Cinder had been told what the artifact does and yet she still managed to cut her skin several times during the first round of practice. What would a person with no prior knowledge of what the ring was do with it? They could hurt both themselves and the people around them by sheer accident.

Cinder would not allow it. She was already closing in on a thief, but the green-haired girl sped up once she realized she was getting chased. For a moment they both ran at roughly the same pace, until the thief took a quick dive into a side alley.

That was strange. A bystreet like that was unlikely to have a second exit, not an easily accessible one anyways. But then again, Cinder didn't know the terrain very well. She kept running and took a turn into the same alley once she reached an intersection.

She was greeted by a sight of two guns pointed at her.

The girl was standing in the middle of the alley. Cinder recognized her by the color of her hair and eyes - green and red respectively - but her outfit was completely different now. She was wearing a short olive-colored crop top and dark green pants. Cinder had no idea how that thief managed to change her clothes so quickly, but that was hardly the most important thing on her mind at the moment.

"Don't come any closer." The girl said, both of her guns aimed at Cinder and seemingly ready to fire at any moment.

"I won't." Cinder replied, trying to sound calm. "As long as you give back my property."

"Not a chance. Now back away."

The offer was tempting, especially since Cinder had left all her weapons in her hideout, but letting that thief escape with a powerful artifact such as this was simply out of the question.

"Look, you really don't want to do this." Cinder didn't took a single step back, though she wasn't approaching the thief either. "Even if I leave, that ring is not something you want on your hands. It is a dangerous item, a weapon of sorts."

"A ring that is also a weapon? That must be the laziest lie I have ever heard."

"It is the truth. I may be able to make up some lie, if that will satisfy you more."

"No. Back away." The green-haired girl said slowly. "That is your final warning."

"Alright. But afterwards I'm calling..." Cinder attacked in the middle of the sentence - a tactic designed to catch the enemy off guard. It appeared pretty successful, as she was able to minimize the distance before the thief reacted and fired her guns.

One shot missed Cinder completely, hitting a nearby wall instead. The other, one fired from the right hand, managed to scratch Cinder's shoulder. If she had no aura, it would result in painful, though maybe not disabling wound. With aura, it was easy for Cinder to ignore the hit and lounge at the shooter.

Taking down a person armed with a ranged weapon was something Cinder had learned long ago. She grabbed one of the thief's arms by the elbow and kicked her feet from below her, toppling the girl to the ground. She then followed by jumping on top of her and grabbing the other arm, pinning the green-haired girl firmly to the ground.

"Let me go!" The thief yelled, ineffectually trying to break free.

"Stop resisting and you'll be fine. I just want you to give back what you stole."

"Alright." Surprisingly, the girl ceased to struggle. "I give up."

Cinder sighed with relief. The girl was clearly a criminal, which justified using force against her, but Cinder still preferred not to seriously hurt her. She let go of one of the thief's arms and, luckily, the girl really didn't intend to fight any longer.

Cinder was just about to search the girl's pockets, when she heard a loud noise coming from behind her. She instinctively turned her head around, just in time to see a large car move towards her at a rather unnerving speed.

Cinder had no time to think. She shot round, not letting go of the green-haired girl's arm, instead pulling the thief up and throwing her onto the wall. Hopefully that would save her from getting ran over by the speeding vehicle.

Sadly, that didn't leave Cinder any time to jump out of the car's path. She used the remaining split second before the impact to shield her entire body with aura, hoping to at least minimize the damage and mentally preparing herself for the impact...

Which never came. The car disappeared as quickly as it has appeared, leaving the two women alone in the empty alley.

"You tried to save me." The thief said, visibly puzzled.

Cinder didn't reply. She honestly didn't know how.

"You tried to save me, even though we had been fighting just a moment earlier. Why?"

Cinder was only now starting to think again. First that sudden outfit change and now this car... did that girl had some special power that allowed her to do things like that? A semblance? She seemed somewhat accustomed to combat, so she probably had her aura unlocked, which already made her a rare case.

Not to mention interesting from a strategic standpoint.

"I thought you needed help. So I tried to help." Cinder outstretched her hand. "Look, I really want nothing but to get my property back. Do we really have to start yet another fight over this?"

Silently, the green-haired girl took a golden ring out of her pocket and placed it in Cinder's palm. The recipient then put it back on her finger, seeing that it indeed was the same ring Salem gave her, judging from the subtle glow emanating from it.

"Thank you." Cinder nodded. "Would like us to go somewhere together, so that we can talk our differences through?"

A long pause followed. It was a rather clumsy attempt at socializing, but Cinder could tell she already had her interlocutor's interest.

"Alright." The girl finally said. "Can me tell me your name though? Feels kind of weird to be walking around with a complete stranger."

"It's Cinder." The woman started to walk towards the main street, gesturing her new companion to follow her. "Now come with me, I know a nice place to sit down and talk."

The girl obliged, walking out of the alley beside Cinder. She still kept her stare firmly focused on Cinder, as if she was expecting her to attack at any moment.

"Once we're there, I will want you to answer some questions." She said and, after a long period of silence, added: "And my name is Emerald, in case you want to know."

"It's nice to meet you Emerald." Cinder said, trying to hide the excitement she was feeling at the moment.

It appeared as though she finally found herself an ally.

/-/

Tea was simply a wonderful substance.

The two women were sitting on a bench, both sipping the amber liquid from their respective cups. It not only warmed them up on this rather cool day, but also made the tension between them dissipate a little. Once you had a mug of steaming tea in front of you, fighting seemed far less appealing than sitting down and having a drink.

"So, I don't know how to put it." Emerald said, once she emptied her cup. "But what the heck is the deal with you?"

"What do you mean?" Cinder replied, once she too poured her lips away from the mug.

"You know what I mean." Emerald rolled her crimson eyes. "You wear some bizarre, magical jewelry, you feel a need to protect a person who had been shooting at you a second earlier and you see no problem inviting that person for a cup of tea. None of these is exactly normal."

"That rescue back there was more out of instinct than anything." Cinder explained honestly. "If we were still fighting in that moment, I wouldn't be so concerned."

"But why would you be concerned at all?" Emerald kept asking. "I stole from you and tried to shoot you."

"Neither one makes you deserving of death." Cinder shrugged. "At least not in my books. I thought you were in danger so I tried to save you. That's all."

Emerald looked at Cinder with disbelief, but didn't voice her doubts out loud.

"As for the tea." Cinder continued. "I just figured it would help us make a conversation. And before you ask, I wanted to talk with you because I find your... ability interesting."

"It's my semblance." Emerald explained. "I can make people hallucinate and see things that aren't really there. It only works really well against unsuspecting targets and I cannot keep it up for very long, but it is pretty useful. Speaking of which, you still haven't explained that ring of yours."

"Look, I don't really understand how it works myself. My... employer gave it to me recently and only bothered to explain the basics."

"Your employer. Are you allowed to say who are you working for?" Emerald asked, visibly curious.

"I'm not specifically forbidden, but I don't think it would be safe to tell you either." Cinder smiled apologetically. "Let me just say that they are a part of a very influential and not entirely legal organization."

"You mean you are a part of some crime syndicate?"

"Is it so hard to believe?"

"Yes." Emerald replied bluntly. "You don't look like a criminal, nor act like one. Besides, I know every top dog around here and I think I someone as strong and unsubtle as you would make name for themselves really fast."

Unsubtle? Cinder did her best to remain under the radar. Was that really ineffective?

"Well, I only came to Vale recently." The infiltrator forced herself to ignore the remark about her supposed lack of subtlety. " I have to carry out a specific mission here."

"Right. And you are telling me that because..."

"Because I could use some help, yes." Cinder put her cup down on the bench and focused firmly on her interlocutor. "I had little luck finding allies here so far and I definitely need those if I am to succeed."

"So it's a job interview, basically?"

Cinder nodded.

"Two questions." Emerald's expression went from curious to dead serious. "What do you want me to do and what do I get out of this?"

"I was granted significant funds to aid me during the mission. I can guarantee you, you will not go hungry ever again if you decide to come with me."

Emerald eyes widened, only to narrow a split second later.

"Answer my first question. What do you want me to do?" She asked, her voice firm and unflinching.

"I can't really give you the details..." Cinder said, only to be interrupted.

"And I can't agree to anything without knowing what I'm signing up for. I'm sure you understand."

And that was the problem, wasn't it? On one hand, Cinder's mission was extremely dangerous and it would be unfair to try to drag Emerald along without telling her what is the plan. On the other hand, the girl was yet to agree to anything, so telling her anything specific about the plan would be irresponsible of Cinder.

She needed to get Emerald to commit so that she could tell her the details and she needed to tell her the details so that she could get her to commit. A classic 'Catch 22' scenario.

"Look, Emerald." Cinder said slowly. "I cannot tell you everything, I really can't. But I can promise you that if you join me, I will keep you informed about our immediate goals. I will never ask you to do anything without explaining why I want you to do that or listing the possible consequences. If you will decide to quit at any step of the way, I will allow it. I don't have any way to pressure you into staying anyway. Just follow my instructions as long as you deem them acceptable and leave if you find them unacceptable. Is that alright."

"I suppose." Emerald said slowly. "As long as your final goals don't involve mass murder or anything like that, I can follow you on these terms."

 _Don't worry. My revolution will not be vilified in that manner._

"Thank you. You will not regret that decision."

"I sure hope I won't." Emerald mumbled. "So, now that I'm officially employed, what is the first step? What do you want me to do?"

"First of all, I would like you to help me find some other aura users that would be willing to enroll. Do you know where I should look?"

"Have you tried going to some information dealer?"

"Are there any around?" Cinder asked surprised. "I asked some gangsters if they knew someone like that and none of them told me anything of value."

"You are definitely not from here." Emerald sighed. "Probably not even a proper criminal. I'll tell you where you can find a good dealer, but first, let's go over some basics of how to behave on the streets..."

/-/

A shattered moon hang high on the sky, illuminating Vale with its silvery light. Two young women were walking down a street, alone and seemingly unarmed. Cinder hoped no thug would see that as an opportunity to assault them - she wanted to get through the night without having to beat anybody up.

"So, you are saying that this Junior guy is a reliable dealer?" Cinder asked, wishing to break the silence between them somehow. Aside from the quiet being somewhat uncomfortable, they would look more natural if they chatted between one another.

"Yes. He is running a night club and uses it to gather information. He made a rep for being consistent with the info he's giving." Emerald glared at Cinder. "Unlike random drug dealers, especially the ones who can be found just like that, hanging on the street."

"Alright, I get that." Cinder sighed. Emerald just wouldn't let that go. "I went about it wrong. Things work a bit different from where I came from."

"Where is that?" Emerald asked, and then added: "If that's not a secret, that is."

"Mistral." Cinder replied without hesitating. That she could reveal without any worry. "The capitol city itself. Criminals are much more open there, including information dealers"

"Cultural differences, I guess." Emerald shrugged. "I've never been to Mistral, or anywhere, really. Grew up on the streets here."

"You are not part of any gang, are you?" Cinder asked, hoping to find something more about her new associate.

"No. I always preferred going solo. If I joined some group or even just found myself a partner, I would have to constantly watch my back. Not worth it in the end."

 _But you are fine working with me._ Cinder thought. It was good to know that Emerald trusted her, if only because she didn't thought her new employer capable of backstabbing her.

"Who unlocked your aura, then?" Cinder sought to satiate her curiosity even further.

"I would rather not talk about it." Emerald said quietly and then pointed towards some building in the distance. "Look, I think we're almost there."

Cinder didn't push any further - Emerald had a right not to discuss certain things with her and it would be really hypocritical to deny her that right. So instead of saying anything more, she remained silent as the two of them approached the building.

Apparently, this Club Emerald had told her about - and yes, it was called just 'Club' - was situated in an old apartment block in one of Vale's less populated areas. It seemed like a strange location at the first glance, but if the owner was running illegal activities, then it made sense for him to found his base in a place full of potential hiding spots and far from the city centre, so it was fairly normal all things considered.

What wasn't normal were the crowd of people running out of the building, each one of them either in hurry or outright panic. Either they really didn't enjoy the customer service inside or...

"There is something happening inside." Emerald stated. "Probably a robbery or something in this manner."

A gunshot could be heard from inside the building, confirming Emerald's suspicions. There apparently was a battle happening in the club, one with lethal weaponry. It was unlikely any of the panicked customers called the police and even if they did, it would take time for the authorities to arrive. Time that could cost people's lives.

"Well, sorry for wasting your time." Emerald sighed. "We are not going to get anything done here. There are other dealers though, so..." The girl paused upon seeing Cinder walk towards the entrance. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

"People might be dying there. I have to do something."

"No you don't!" Emerald protested. "You said you're not from here, you have no stake in the gang wars or whatever that is."

"I have a stake in people not getting hurt." Cinder replied. "I'm going in. You can stay behind if you want, that's not part of the mission. But I would welcome some help."

"Ugh, fine." Emerald growled. "I'm going to make sure you're not getting killed there yourself."

"Thank you." Cinder said and, not wasting any more time, ran towards the entrance door. Pushing through all the running people was a bit tricky, but both she and Emerald managed to avoid bumping into others more than few times.

Eventually, they reached the door and passed into the club proper. It contrasted greatly with the block it was situated in, as the interior seemed quite expensive, with a spacious hall, glass parquet and a huge disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Cinder could bet that normally, this place was very nice to have a party in and maybe one of the few truly beautiful locations in this lifeless city.

At that moment though... not so much.

Everything was in disarray. The damaged walls, destroyed reflectors as well as a multitude of bullet casings lying around indicated that a full-scale battle took place there. The dance floor was damaged in multiple places and, more shockingly, covered in bodies. Mostly men in suits, though Cinder could spot several women lying on the floor as well. Some of them were clearly alive, groaning and unsuccesfully trying to get up. Some were clearly dead due to horrible, open wounds visible on their bodies. Most were hard to classify, lying motionless with injuries that didn't look quite as serious, but could well have been lethal. Cinder hoped that they were just unconscious.

There were only two people standing - or at least not lying - left in the room. One of them was a young woman with rather absurdly long, blonde hair and a casual outfit, likely designed to show off her excellent figure. She was holding another person by the throat - an older man in a black suit and with equally black hair and beard. Given the height and age difference between the two, the scene would probably look fairly comical if not for all the bodies lying around

Upon hearing someone approach, the girl dropped the man onto the ground - earning a pained yelp from him - and turned towards Cinder and Emerald. Her face was just as pretty as the rest of her body, with smooth features and large, iliac eyes that were now looking at the other two women with surprise.

"Sorry, what are you looking for here?" She asked. "We are closed for tonight, in case you didn't hear."

"What happened here?" Cinder ignored the blonde's question and in turn asked her own, even though she strongly suspected what the answer would be.

"Party got a little bit too wild." The girl answered, moving a strand of her hair out of her eyes. "Seriously though, this guy here owed me some money and didn't want to pay up. I decided that it would be only fair if I took my payment by wrecking some of his stuff."

Cinder took another, closer look at the large man. He didn't appear unconscious, let alone dead, only dazed by the blows he had received. That was not to say he looked fine - he was bleeding from a broken nose and appeared missing a tooth or two.

"That's Junior." Emerald said. "He is the owner of the place and a good fighter himself from what I heard. For someone to just walk in, demand tribute and beat up him and his men..."

"I know, I'm awesome." The blonde said grinning. "That is a huntress for you."

'Huntress?" Cinder didn't bother to hide her surprise. "You look a bit too young for that."

"Well, I don't have a license." Blonde admitted. "But I'm joining Beacon this year and with my merits, I'm pretty sure I'll pass. Name's Yang, by the way. What is yours?"

"You don't need to know." Cinder replied, even though if the girl was being honest, then she would find out the name in about a month. Cinder really hoped it was simply a bluff - she didn't welcome the prospect of fighting a prospective Beacon student, even if she could probably win such a fight. "All you need to know is that you have to leave."

"And if I don't?" Yang asked nonchalantly, as though she was inviting challenge.

"We will have to remove you ourselves." Cinder replied with confidence she wasn't entirely faking. Even if Yang really was up to huntsmen academy standards, she had to be at least somewhat low on aura after fighting through so many people.

"You've got a deal. Are you going to fight me two on one, or do you have more buddies waiting outside?"

"Neither." Cinder stepped forwards, gesturing Emerald to stay back. She didn't need her new associate to participate in a fight that had, frankly, nothing to do with the mission. Besides, it was about time to test the ring in a real fight.

"One on one? I like it." Yang transformed her bracelets into what looked like gauntlets with barrels of guns installed into them. "I just hope it won't be over too quickly."

"You are going to be disappointed." Cinder replied, even though that wasn't exactly the best comeback ever, and arranger her fists into a defensive position. She would feel better if she had her swords, but she hadn't brought them with her for fear it might make negotiating with the dealer a bit harder.

She would probably pay for that in a moment.

Neither of the women started fighting immediately. Instead they began circling around each other, both hoping to see some sign of weakness in the other one. Cinder moved towards the part of the floor free of bodies, hoping to avoid injuring the living ones even further. Yang smiled, showing that she noticed Cinder's intentions and found them amusing, but she obliged and followed her opponent onto the edge of the parquet.

And then she attacked.

Yang turned out to be extremely fast. Even though Cinder was prepared for an incoming attack, she still barely managed to dodge it. After firing a shot from her gauntlet to reduce her momentum, Yang threw another punch aimed at her opponent's abdomen. This one Cinder blocked with her hand, although it still hurt quite a bit - Yang was apparently just as strong as she was fast.

Not giving her opponent a single moment to breathe, Yang launched a flurry of punches towards Cinder. Most of them were either blocked or dodged, but after a dozen or so misses Yang feinted an overhead strike with her right hand only to deliver a solid kidney punch with her left fist instead.

While the punch wasn't quite as hard as the ones Hazel could throw, it still took a solid chunk out of Cinder's aura, not to mention sent her flying several meters back. She landed on a pile of broken glass which didn't cost her quite as much aura to block, but was still fairly unpleasant.

 _This is not going well._ Cinder came to a conclusion that she had severely underestimated Yang's abilities. Despite having fought multiple opponents mere minutes earlier, the girl was clearly dominating the fight. If the fight kept going this way, Cinder would have to rely on Emerald to save her, which would be pretty embarrassing... assuming Emerald even decided to do that. It was fully possible that she would just let her new boss die after seeing her act stupidly like that.

In order to avoid such fate, Cinder activated the ring and threw a pile of glass splinters into Yang's face. It didn't appear to have done much damage, but it caught the bruiser off guard and bought Cinder time to stand up and use the rest of the shards to form two spears - or rather levitating, longitudinal piles - out of them.

"Well that's interesting." Yang said once she realized it was safe to uncover her eyes again. "You've got one cool semblance. Almost makes up for the lack of strength."

The blonde was clearly trying to anger Cinder and she was being far more successful than she likely thought - the comment about a semblance stung Cinder quite a bit. Still, she wouldn't lose her cool in a middle of the battle. That was a recipe for failure.

Instead, she calmly threw one of the spears at her opponent. Yang dodged it fairly easily, but it enabled Cinder to predict where she would be in the next second and throw the other spear towards that spot.

This one hit the mark. The spear shattered immediately upon impact, but it still seemed to do a decent amount of damage judging from how much force Cinder put into the throw and how Yang yelped upon getting hit.

Cinder showed her opponent just as little pity as she had been shown thus far. She used the ring to its full extent, taking control of all the shards lying around and threw them all into Yang. Iliac eyes widened in shock as the girl realized that the attack was now coming from all sides. Unable to dodge or block the cascade of glass splitters, Yang simply covered her face as the wave covered her.

Cinder didn't want to risk killing the girl - aside from moral aspects of killing a person, offing a huntsmen candidate was bound to draw some unwanted attention. Instead of finishing her opponent off, Cinder released control of the shards, causing them all to fall back on the floor.

Yang sat crouched there. Her hands were covered in small cuts - she must had lost control of her aura for a moment or something in this manner. Still, she was definitely alive and her injuries didn't appear life-threatening in any way.

"Had enough yet?" Cinder said, making a step towards the girl. "I could kill you right now if I wanted to."

Yang put her arms down and looked at Cinder. Her stare was surprised, inquisitive. As if Cinder had just done something extremely strange or unusual. A moment later, however, blonde's expression turned into a wide grin.

And then her eyes turned red.

Cinder could feel an immense heat emanating from the girl as she _exploded_ into flames. Even though fire engulfed her and the glass around her melted, Yang didn't appear bothered by said heat. In fact, she looked as though she just got a new surge of energy and was ready to come back into the fight.

And so she did. Yang launched herself into the air faster than before, way too fast for Cinder to dodge. She instead tried to block the incoming punch, but it easily broke through her guard and hit her in the chest with full force.

This one was really bad. Air was driven out of Cinder's lungs as she was thrown into the air again, this time with more velocity and less aura to protect her. The woman could do absolutely nothing as she flew upwards, hit the ceiling and then fell back down on the glass floor. She could bet that it looked comical when seen from outside, but personally, she had no reason to be amused.

Especially not with Yang walking slowly towards her. Flames still engulfed her, creating a rather terrifying image when combined with red eyes and red stains on the jacket. If that wasn't bad enough, Cinder's aura flared and broke the moment after she fit the floor, leaving the woman essentially defenseless against an opponent that wouldn't hesitate to kill.

"Well, it was pretty fun." Yang said, tightening her fists. "But all good things must come to an end, don't they?"

Cinder didn't reply with a word, being too busy searching her mind for some strategy that would enable her to survive this. She still had a tiny flicker of aura left within herself, not enough to block a single punch or activate her semblance if she had one, but enough to use a ring again.

When Cinder tried that, however, she found out that she couldn't control the melted glass for whatever reason. She was limited to using small shards that were still lying on the floor. She decided she would wait until Yang got really close and ready to strike before throwing some splinters into her eyes again. Of course, there was no guarantee it would enable the infiltrator to dodge the attack, but it seemed like her best bet at the moment.

Instead of simply walking towards Cinder in order to deliver the killing blow, Yang jumped high into the air. Smiling, she braced her fist for a downward smash and, combining the force of the blast from her other hand with the force of gravity, descended towards Cinder at a blinding speed.

Cinder had no hope of rolling out of the way. She instead lifted the glass splitters into the air, hoping against the odds that it would somehow make Yang miss her swing and hit something other than her opponent's head.

Yang did miss. But not because of the splinters.

She had landed some two meters away from Cinder, hitting a glass floor with all her might. Her smirk faded and confusion dominated her expression.

Cinder didn't waste any time. She threw the levitating shards into Yang's eyes again and, when the blonde instinctively raised an arm to cover her face, punched the wannabe huntress in her jaw, putting all of her strength into the punch.

Had Yang used her aura to deflect the blow, she would likely be able to tank it and strike back at a moment's notice. Instead, she toppled to the ground, the punch proving strong enough to knock her out. The flames covering her body flickered and died as her body turned motionless on the floor.

After watching the body for several seconds, fearing that Yang would still get up and finish the fight, Cinder collapsed back onto the parquet. She had been through some close calls before but that was _really_ close. Now that she thought about it, how the heck did she survive that?

"You alright?" Emerald asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Oh, right. She had an illusion master with her.

"Yes, I think so." Cinder got up and smoothed out her clothes. She has some minor scratches here and there and her fist hurt considerably after delivering the final punch, but aside from that she was just fine - aura did wonders whenever it was working properly.

"Good." A deep voice reached Cinder's ears. As she saw a moment later, it belonged to Junior, who managed to stand up from the floor and make a few stumbling steps towards them. Either he got better real quickly, or he was just lying down during the entire battle. "I don't know what I would have done if not for you."

"You would have died." Emerald commented dryly. "Did you really get yourself a debt with someone like that?"

"You kidding?" Junior spat on the floor, spit mixed with blood. "I don't get into debts, especially with that kind of people. She just walked in and demanded money from me."

"And you didn't think to just give it to her?"

"Hey, it's only obvious in hindsight! She didn't look all that dangerous at the first glance, not before she started to massacre my men. Speaking of which," He pointed towards the edge of the parquet, where two women lied motionless. "Can you check how they are, please?"

Cinder obliged, walking towards the two women. They both wore party dresses, one white and the other one red, and they looked very similar to each other, with fair skin and black hair not dissimilar to Cinder's. She was relieved that there were no critical injuries visible on their bodies and both of them had a relatively stable pulse.

"They appear alive, just unconscious." Cinder informed Junior, who sighed with relief.

"That's good to hear. They were my most loyal bodyguards, wouldn't deserve to die like that." Junior trudged towards the buffet deeper into the hall. "Well, I think I have to go now. Thanks for your help."

"Don't you care about the rest of your men?" Cinder asked, the tone of her voice making obvious what she thought about that kind of attitude.

"I wish I could help them, but I'm no doctor. I have an emergency alarm system installed here, so perhaps the police is already on its way. They might be able to help them."

Cinder didn't like the words 'perhaps' and 'might' in that sentence, but she was no medic either, so she didn't protest in any way. Besides, she figured she should probably get to business quickly now that Junior was so eager to leave.

"Before you go, can I ask you a question? I need some information."

"Oh, right. I guess there was a reason you came here after all." Junior crossed his arms. "What do you wish to know? I will give out info for free this one time."

"I am looking for strong, young fighters willing to undertake a mission on my behalf."

"Strong and young? Is that mission something, ekhem, personal?" Junior smiled, but got serious again under Cinder's deadly glare. "Just joking. So you are looking for some fresh mercenaries, basically?"

"Sort of, but I'd prefer them not to be a part of any organized group." Partially so that they wouldn't end up having any conflicting loyalties, but also because she figured anyone working in a larger organization would be too sane to try to infiltrate Beacon.

"I'm not sure if I know anyone who meets all the criteria." Junior scratched his head. "Well, maybe one guy, but I'm not sure if you'd want to recruit him, or if he'd want to join you."

"We'll see. Just tell me his name and where to find him."

"Name's Roman Torchwick. You might have heard of him. He made himself quite the reputation, one that reaches even beyond Vale."

Cinder couldn't recall ever hearing about anyone of this name. Then again, she spent last several months roaming the deserts, so some news might had passed her by.

"You mean that guy with cigarettes and a funny hat?" Emerald joined the exchange. "I always thought he was some sort of comedian, not an actual thief."

"Yeah, his attire is kind of ridiculous, but he is extremely dangerous, in no small part thanks to his combat skills. I'm not sure what you exactly want him for, but if it's exiting enough, he might sign up for free."

A known thief wasn't exactly what Cinder hoped for, but it was something. Even if the guy turned out to be completely unwilling or unable to help them on their mission, Cinder could still ask him if he knew someone better suited for the job. Either way, it was a step forward.

"I have a lot of excitement in store for him." Cinder replied and, when she realized how that statement sounded, quickly changed the topic. "Where exactly can I find him?"

"Last time I checked he lived in an apartment in downtown Vale." Junior said and then listed some adress that Cinder made sure to remember.

"Thank you for the information." She said after the dealer was done talking. "Do you want us to escort you to the door?"

"No, I'll manage. In fact, I want to use the emergency door I have hidden nearby and I would prefere if you..."

"Didn't see anything not meant for our eyes?" Emerald finished for him. The bearded man nodded, smiling apologetically.

"Just out of curiosity, what about her?" He pointed towards Yang, who was still lying on the floor.

"Ah. I suppose I should take some precautions." Cinder activated her ring again. Now that some of her aura has regenerated, she was able to rip off some glass from the floor and use it to form several large spikes around the unconscious girl. "Here we go."

"Not going to kill her? After she tried to murder you a couple minutes ago?"

"That would be justified if we were still fighting. Now... I don't enjoy killing people in their sleep, regardless of what they did while awake."

"Huh. You seem to be kind of soft." Junior commented. "But if that's what got you to save my ass, then I won't complain."

"Well, I wish you luck." Cinder said with a smile. "And you better be gone before that girl wakes up. I'm not entirely sure if the spikes will be enough to hold her down."

Junior clearly didn't like that scenario very much. He quickly left the hall - or rather as quickly as he could given his sorry state - and disappeared in some back room, nodding to Cinder and Emerald once more before leaving.

The two women were now left alone - unless you counted multiple dead and unconscious bodies - on the dance parquet. Cinder shivered slightly, only now fully realizing how close to death she got just a few moments ago.

"Thanks for the save there." She said to her companion, remembering whom she owed her continued survival. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You would have died." Emerald gave Cinder the same response she had given Junior a minute back. "But you are welcome. Now let's get out of here quickly, on the off chance that the police will actually arrive."

Cinder nodded. Then the two of them turned around and headed towards the exit, leaving the destroyed night club and all its bodies behind them.

/-/

Cinder and Emerald passed through the door, stepping onto the dark alley outside. The crowd that had been present there a while ago had long dispersed, leaving the street empty and lifeless.

Well, not entirely. A moment after they exited the building, some person came out of a side alley and approached them. It was a young girl, dressed in a red cloak with a cape that waved in the wind. Below that she wore some sort of black dress and thick, black stockings. Her diminutive stature made her look fairly unthreatening, but Cinder suspected the looks to be deceiving in this case - no one unthreatening would opt to visit what was obviously a crime scene.

"Well, it took you long..." The girl said in a high-pitched voice, only to pause the moment she saw who she was talking to. She bent her knees slightly, as if she was planning on either running away or jumping at one of the other two women. Her eyes - which had an unusual silvery color - were jumping back and forth between Cinder and Emerald, as if she wasn't sure which one of them would attack first.

A tense silence followed. Emerald was looking at her associate expectantly which was sort of annoying, since Cinder wasn't sure what she should say. The girl was definitely a combatant of sorts - Cinder could tell by the way she acted, not to mention there was something that looked like a weapon strapped to her waist - and getting into another fight wasn't exactly in their best interest. Cinder didn't want to appear threatening, but she didn't want to show weakness either.

"How can I help you?" She finally asked, her voice calm and carefree.

"A girl. Tall, blonde hair, revealing outfit. Is she..."

"Alive." Cinder answered the implied question. "We had a disagreement there, but I managed to resolve it without either of us getting hurt."

Well, there were all the scratches and maybe a broken jaw, but the cloaked girl didn't need to know about that.

"Great." The girl groaned. "I told her that she should take me with her or do something else entirely, but she just had to go on a one-woman rampage. She is lucky to be alive."

"She made quite a bit of damage down there." Cinder said. Her interlocutor didn't appear hostile, so she figured she could ask a question or two. "Is she a career fighter or something like that?"

"She is from Signal. So am I, by the way." The girl outstretched a hand. "My name is Ruby."

"Cinder." The infiltrator didn't see any reason not to give away her name now. Everything pointed to Yang being a candidate for Beacon after all, which meant they would meet sooner or later anyways. "It is nice to meet you, despite the circumstances."

"It's fine. Really, I should thank you for not killing my sister down there." Ruby replied. Cinder was surprised that the two girls were apparently sisters - they didn't look alike at all - but she didn't think there was any point asking about that. While the girl in front of her seemed nice, Cinder still wanted nothing but to get away from her current place.

While Cinder and Ruby were talking to each other, Emerald stood back, ready to draw her guns and likely activate her semblance at any moment. Cinder did appreciate that - after all, Emerald being ready to intervene saved her mere minutes ago.

If Ruby was bothered by Emerald's behavior, she didn't let that show. She wore a smile on her face, one that seemed honest even to Cinder's inspection.

"Well, I have to check on Yang and probably escort her home. Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't try to come back for revenge or anything stupid like that."

"I will appreciate it." If Cinder was to eventually join Beacon, she would benefit from having as few enemies as possible. Then again, it was probably too late with Yang.

Ruby nodded and headed towards the entrance door to the Club.

"Goodbye Cinder. Hopefully we'll see each other again someday." The girl said, before disappearing behind a door.

"That girl was weird." Emerald commented, once Ruby was certainly out of the hearing range.

"Because she ignored you just like that?" Cinder asked, though she couldn't help but somewhat agree with her associate on that one. Maybe it was because...

"Because she didn't seem concerned in the slightest about her sister getting beaten up, as long as she wasn't beaten to death. Heck, for all she knew, you could have been lying and that bimbo could have been dead as a doornail. I don't mind being ignored, but that is just weird."

"Maybe they aren't that close to each other?" Cinder suggested

Or maybe Ruby knew that her sister was doing the wrong thing and was glad she got stopped? No, that was a stupid thought. Ruby did say she was attending Signal, which probably meant she intended to join Beacon in the future. And nobody who aimed to join the ranks of huntsmen and huntresses could really be a good person.

Unless they were an undercover agent, of course.

Emerald shrugged, either not having any better theory or not caring very much. The two of them then started walking down the street, moon giving enough light for them to see the way clearly.

"So, our next step is to find that Torchwick guy, right?" Emerald asked, once they were far away from Club and there was nobody who could listen in on their conversation nearby.

"It is our only real option right now." Cinder said, instantly hating how that sounded. As if she was pinned down and without any good choices. "But let's get some sleep first. I have rented an apartment not so far from here. Just follow me there."

"Alright." Emerald replied and slowed down a little, allowing Cinder to take the lead. They walked like that for a couple more minutes, until Cinder found the silence to be unbearable.

"Emerald?"

"What?" Emerald looked at the other woman.

"Do you think I handled it well?" Cinder asked, somewhat meekly. She wasn't used to people judging her actions, but she needed to know what her only immediate ally thought about her.

"Which part?"

"In general. I want to know your opinion about how things are going. An honest opinion."

Emerald stayed silent for a couple seconds, as if thinking how to suitably voice her thoughts. Finally, she spoke, voice quiet but firm.

"You almost got yourself killed for almost no reason. We could have simply searched for another informant, but you felt a need to run into a firefight as if it was your responsibility to intervene like that."

"Then you decided to fight somebody who you knew could very well be stronger than you." She continued, a tinge of irritation or perhaps even anger audible in her voice now. "You fought that huntress alone, despite having me to help. And even after you saw first-hand how strong your opponent was, you didn't give your all for fear of hurting her, as though her life meant more than yours did. It was all very reckless if you ask me."

"I'm sorry Emerald, I know I put us both in danger." Cinder sighed. "But, at least this once, it worked out, didn't it? We have the information we needed and we might have just prevented unnecessary death down there, which has to count for something."

"I suppose all's well that ends well." Emerald said without much conviction. "In any case, I still intend to follow you. I just hope your heroics don't get us killed in the future."

Cinder hoped so as well.

* * *

 **Is it just me, or do events of the Yellow Trailer actually make more sense with Yang being a sociopathic villain?**

 **Anyways, I hope you have an idea of how this story will proceed. I am going to essentially rewrite canon events and characters, but in a way that flips the 'hero' and 'villain' roles. That is not to say I intend to completely invert the characters' personalities. I prefer to merely give them a little trudge in the right direction, exaggerating and/or repurposing some of their traits. Cinder's belief in destiny motivates her to commit good deeds, Yang's fondness of battle makes into a violent thug, et cetera.**

 **I also reserve the right to nerf any characters I need to nerf. The story would be far less fun if the villains-turned-heroes were strong enough to take down a maiden from day one. Since they are protagonists there, they will have to use their heads a little if they want to succeed.**


	4. Building an Army

**I have absolutely no excuse for taking so long to write a single chapter. I'd like to be able to say that I have sacrificed quantity for quality, but there will probably be a couple errors in this chapter, just like with the previous one.**

 **Just... let's just get started.**

* * *

The sun was at its highest point in the sky, illuminating Vale and heating the air. Still, the apartment blocks provided a lot of shadow, tall and tightly packed as they were. Two women walked those narrow passages, both armed and ready to fight should a need arise.

"I'm not too sure about that." Emerald said as they were approaching their destination. "What will the guy think if we show up at his doorstep armed to the teeth?"

"Well it wasn't you who had to fight that girl without a real weapon." Cinder retorted, her eyes scanning the area in search of potential threats. "I know it has its downsides, but I much prefer to be armed."

"You didn't have to fight that bimbo either." Emerald pointed out. "You just decided it was your sacred obligation or something."

"Anyways," Cinder didn't want to argue with Emerald on that topic, knowing she would inevitably lose. "We don't really know what to expect from Torchwick. It is better to be prepared for everything."

"Well I do appreciate having a gun at hand." Emerald admitted. "It will make it easier for me to protect you."

Cinder rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. They were almost at their destination and it would be unwise for them to keep jabbing at each other now, when the danger was at its highest.

Together they approached the door. It was worn out by time and barely held in its hinges. It wouldn't take too much strength to break through it, but that wouldn't exactly be appropriate for what they hoped would be a friendly visit. Cinder approached the intercom, pressed the button signed 'Burnswick' - such a creative misdirection - and waited for somebody to pick up.

No one did. And yet, after several seconds, the door opened. As though there was no need for a verbal invitation.

"So, does Torchwick just open the door for anyone who calls, or was he expecting us?" Emerald asked, clearly unsettled.

"I don't know." Cinder replied. "but it would be rude to refuse such hospitality, wouldn't you agree?"

Emerald rolled her eyes, but didn't protest in any way. She followed Cinder into the buildings and up the stairs, watching her back all the way through.

Eventually, they arrived at the right door. These one was actually in a decent state, though it wasn't exactly pretty. It had no glass on it, no visor, no knocker, only a metal doorknob. One hand near the handle of a sword, Cinder knocked in the door and stepped back.

Nothing happened.

"Is anyone home?" Cinder asked loudly, but no reply came.

"Is that some kind of joke?" Emerald appeared quite frustrated. "We know there is somebody inside. Why would they let us into the building but not into the apartment itself?"

Cinder shrugged, not having any good answer. This seemingly irritated Emerald even more, prompting her to walk over to the door, knock aggressively and, without any other option available, firmly pulled the doorknob.

The door opened.

"Well, it looks as though we really are welcome here." Cinder commented. Emerald didn't say anything, just placed her hand on one of her pistols and threw her boss a glare that said something to the effect of 'Go in, but carefully'.

Cinder obliged, stepping inside the flat. It was somewhat dark - the curtains were mostly drawn - but she could still see the interior fairly well. The main room featured several kinds of furniture, including a small table, a couch, an armchair and a desk in the corner. It was quite messy, with all the cigarettes, ammo casings and empty ice cream boxes - a rather strange combination - lying just about everywhere.

There was no sign of life in there. No person, no pet, there weren't even any plants. In a way, it was somewhat upsetting.

"What now?" Emerald asked once she entered the apartment as well and had a chance to look around. "I looks like nobody's home, even though we know that to be untrue."

"Search all the other rooms." Cinder commanded. "Maybe somebody is just messing with us, for whatever reason."

Over the next few minutes, the two women searched through the flat, hoping to find someone else in there. They looked in the kitchen, the bedroom, the surprisingly well-equipped bathroom and once more in the living room, but to no avail. There were only two people in the apartment right now and they were in equal measure confused and frustrated.

"What _now?_ " Emerald asked, dropping on a couch. "Do we just pretend that those doors didn't really open and that this place is simply empty?"

"No, we don't have to pretend anything, just..." Cinder sighed. "Maybe we should just wait a while, see if someone comes around."

Emerald shrugged, indicating that she lacked a better idea. Cinder, tired from the long walk to this place, decided to imitate her associate and sit down, though maybe not on the same couch - she wanted to give the green-haired girl some space.

Besides, there was a perfectly good armchair standing on the opposite side of the table. Cinder took a seat...

No. She tried to take a seat, only to fall onto the floor instead. Before she managed to get up or even just analyze the situation, she felt something pointy pressing against her throat.

From her position, Cinder couldn't see the attacker. She could, however, see Emerald shoot round and draw both of her pistols.

"Don't move!" The girl shouted. "Well, you can take your foot out of my partner's throat, but that's it."

Cinder would voice her approval, but the object pressing against her throat - most likely a heel - made it a little hard for her to breathe, let alone speak.

"Look, if you want to negotiate, you better let her go." Emerald argued, without lowering her guns. "She is the one who is supposed to do the talking."

Cinder wheezed, trying to convey that she agreed with that opinion and that she would much rather not be strangled to death. The assailant didn't release her but they did lower the pressure. It allowed the raven-haired woman to finally catch some air as well as move her neck ever-so-slightly in order to look up.

She saw her attacker's face, looking at her. The girl - as it was clearly a young woman - had strange eyes, one of them pink and the other one brown. Her hair matched her pupils in terms of color, being pink on one side and brown on the other. Even though Cinder had seen many different combinations of eye and hair colors - Emerald's green hair and red eyes weren't exactly common traits - this was much stranger than the norm.

Right now, those eyes were staring at Cinder questioningly. She waited a few moments for some question to come, but it eventually became clear that her assailant wasn't going to say anything. Not wanting to irritate her by prolonging the silence, Cinder decided to explain the situation in order to clear up any potential misunderstandings.

"We came here looking for Roman Torchwick." She said, a heel on her throat still causing some problems. "We wanted to make him a job offer, or at least I think this is the right word. Junior gave us this address and said that this is where we should look."

The girl's expression softened, becoming sad and somewhat resigned. A moment later, however, it hardened again as the multi-colored eyes focused on the weapons Cinder was wearing on her back.

"That was just a contingency." She quickly explained. Damn it, why did Emerald always have be right? "We were hoping not to use those. Still do."

A long, silent moment passed, before the strange girl lifted her boot from Cinder's neck. The woman immediately rolled away and stood back up - even if there wasn't going to be any fight, it still felt good to be on one's feet in a situation like that.

As a bonus, it gave her an opportunity to see the assailant in her fullest. She was shorter than Cinder initially thought, but she was clearly an adult judging by her nicely curved body. Her outfit matched her hair and eyes pretty well in that it was strange and had multiple pink elements. In one of her hands the girl was holding an umbrella with an unnervingly pointy end - probably a weapon, if a very strange one.

The three woman spent the next minute in silence, eyeing the other side up and waiting for someone to say something. After a while, Cinder realized something.

"You can't speak, can you?" She asked the girl, who nodded in response. "Just try to answer with gestures, alright?"

Another nod. Cinder had quite a few questions ready, including how her attacker managed to impersonate an armchair, but the priorities were different.

"You know Roman Torchwick, right?" A nod. "You are his... girlfriend? A family member? A partner?"

The girl thought about the answer for a second and then held out three fingers. A partner in crime then."

"Do you know where he is right now?" The strange girl nodded once more. "Can you tell us where he is somehow?"

The girl spent another minute thinking, after which she held out two fingers.

"Two? As in, the two of you?" Cinder took a guess.

The girl nodded and then showed four fingers on her other hand. She then clenched her right hand into a fist.

"Four attackers? They ambushed you?" Cinder asked, earning yet another nod from the girl, who then snapped her fingers and made a head roll.

"You... ran away?" This time, the girl looked at Cinder with malice, as though she felt insulted. "Alright, not ran away. Made some kind of strategic retreat?"

The girl shook her head. She extended the thumb and a forefinger of her fight hand, so that they resembled the shape of an 'L'. She then stomped the ground with her foot and pressed a finger to her lips.

Cinder was struggling to make some sense out of this. Before she could make another wild guess she heard Emerald snicker and realized the obvious.

"You are just messing with me, right?"

The girl smiled and nodded. She then reached into her pocket, pulled out a pencil and a small sheet of paper and started to write something on it.

Cinder sighed loudly and threw Emerald a stern glare. "So, you were about to watch me make a fool out of myself for... how long, exactly?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your bonding." Emerald replied. "It is better that she feels comfortable around us, and one way to achieve that is to let her make fun of you."

Cinder couldn't really prove that logic wrong, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. "Next time remember to join in before I embarrass myself, especially if it may result in my cover getting blown."

"Cover, you say. So are we going to infiltrate something? Like spies and stuff?"

Crap. Cinder didn't want to tell Emerald too much about the mission just yet, no matter how awful that felt. She wasn't sure how the thief would react to finding out that they were about to sneak into Beacon - for all Cinder knew, Emerald could simply resign on the spot in such a case. Those details couldn't be kept hidden forever, but it seemed wise not to reveal them just yet.

"I will inform you in due time." Cinder said, fully aware of how much of a copout that answer really was. Emerald looked as though she was about to comment on that, but luckily, the strange girl stepped between the two women with a piece of paper in hand.

 _"He was captured few days back. Been looking for a way to break him out."_ The text read.

"Captured? As in, by the authorities?" Cinder asked, receiving a nod in return.

Well crap. Those were some awful news, since apparently the guy they were hoping to recruit was unavailable. This made the things a lot more complicated than Cinder would like... but maybe there was still an opportunity there.

"That sounds terrible. Say, would you like some help with that endeavor? The breaking out I mean?"

"Um, are we really doing this?' Emerald expressed her doubt. "Because prison breaks tend to be quite problematic, especially with only three people taking part."

The strange girl didn't pay any attention to Emerald. Her eyes were locked at Cinder, expressing surprise as well as conveying a question - _What do you want in return?_

What did Cinder want in return? Getting in touch with Torchwick was an obvious benefit, but not a huge one since there was no guarantee how willing or capable he would be to help with infiltrating Beacon. Even if he swore to help them however he could, a convicted criminal didn't make for a very good infiltrator.

That girl was another matter. She was clearly a fighter in her own right and appeared to possess some very interesting power. Still, there was no telling if she would be willing to help them in any way. Cinder had no way of making a binding contract right now and she would be asking a lot if she wanted the girl to participate in the plan.

"There is a project I need some help with." Cinder said after a moment of silence. "But I won't demand anything specific from you, especially since I can't tell you the details right away. Just promise me that you will listen to my offer afterwards. Not necessarily agree, just listen."

The girl still seemed skeptical of the offer, but she nodded in agreement.

"Then it looks like we have a deal... I'm sorry, what is your name?"

The girl grabbed a pen again and wrote three other letters on the sheet of paper. _Neo._

"Alright, Neo. Can you say, um, write everything you know? Where your partner is being kept and what steps we could take to break him out?"

The girl, Neo as she wanted to be called, began writing once more. After a short while she showed Cinder another sentence.

 _He's in Devoid. I have no idea what to do._

Well crap.

The Devoid Prison Complex was the name of Vale's best protected prison facility. It held the most dangerous of criminals, both in terms of their strength and the severity of their crimes. Come to think of it, it was to be expected that someone like Torchwick would be transported there upon capture - not many other places to hold an experienced aura-user.

Breaking into such a place would be a dangerous undertaking... but maybe they could use some practice before the real mission.

"Alright". Cinder said slowly. "That is a difficult situation, but we might just be able to handle it. We all possess unique powers, we are skilled fighters and we have access to significant resources. We can do this."

"How exactly?" Emerald asked, one of her eyebrows raised. "All you said is nice and good, but doesn't really mean that much. Do you have enough resources to organize an attack that will overwhelm Devoid? Or does any of us have a power that will fool an entire security system? I'd like to hear some specifics first."

Cinder thought about that for a second. She really didn't have any concrete plan and, for some reason, she doubted she would come up with one. Once again, Emerald was correct - three people, no matter how strong or gifted, simply weren't enough to storm what was essentially a modern fortress. Worse yet, even if they did have a way to storm Devoid, it would still place them in an immense risk and require them to kill many people during their assault, neither of which Cinder was alright with.

Luckily, before it became obvious that Cinder had no idea what she was doing, a scroll rang in her pocket. Grateful for the distraction, she pulled it out and checked who exactly was calling.

 _Arthur W._

"Who's that?" Emerald asked, peeking over her superior's shoulder.

"Resources." Cinder replied. "One of my associates is calling. I would like to speak with him in private, if that's possible."

"Find yourself some place quiet." Emerald was apparently content to let Cinder talk in privacy. "I'll stay here with our new colleague."

Immediately, Cinder wanted to protest, since there was a good chance that Neo was actually stronger than Emerald and that she was hiding her true intentions after all. But then again, she already decided to trust the strange girl, so it was better to start showing at least a bit of that trust. Besides, with her semblance, Emerald wouldn't go down easily in a duel against even the strongest of opponents. She could always, at the very least, create a distraction allowing her to fall back and join up with her partner.

Therefore, the raven-haired woman simply nodded, and after giving her associates one last look, exited into the corridor outside. She then came down a floor, as to minimize the risk of Neo overhearing something she really wasn't supposed to. She wasn't really worried about other inhabitants of the building - even if there was someone present here at this hour, they likely wouldn't understand a word from the conversation that would soon take place.

"Ah, finally." Watts said once Cinder accepted the call. "I was worried that you already got killed or captured."

"I haven't gone to Beacon yet." Cinder pointed out. "And I've only been away for a week or so."

"And did you manage to stay out of trouble?"

Cinder's silence was telling.

"Just as I thought. Are you absolutely sure you want to carry on with your mission, even though it's already going downhill?"

"I didn't do that bad!" Cinder protested. "As a matter of fact, I have two new associates, both of whom are at the right age and skill level to attend Beacon alongside me."

She purposefully omitted how she met either of those associates.

"Truly?" There was no video transmission, but Cinder could bet Watts was raising his eyebrows. "It looks like your preparations are almost complete already, as I have managed to find you another potential teammate."

"Really?" This time, it was Cinder who raised her eyebrows. "You said that finding suitable people would be very difficult."

"Trust me, it was." Watts responded, suddenly sounding a little tired. "None of my own people met all the requirements and I was forced to go digging deeper. Nonetheless, I found someone who is both willing and capable of infiltrating Beacon alongside you."

"It is good to hear." Cinder replied, though she was still somewhat suspicious. "Who are they, exactly?"

"Mercury Black. A self-proclaimed assassin, only two years older than a fresh Beacon student should be and more than strong enough to qualify."

"Assassin? Are you sure that is the kind of person we are looking for? As in one we can trust?"

"I applaud your skepticism, but yes, he has my confidence." Watts responded. "Partially because he is paid exceptionally well, but also due to his character."

"Character? You mean he is some sort of noble assassin that only kills the bad guys?" Cinder said mockingly.

"I meant something else. I wonder if you'll be able to figure that out after you meet him."

"Figure out?" Cinder was quite irritated by her coworker being so vague and intended to push him for details, but she realized that it probably wouldn't make him talk. It was watts after all, he likely took immense enjoyment from messing with his colleagues. "Alright, I'll humor you and find this out on my own. But how much does this Mercury Black know about us?"

"Not particularly much. He knows that we seek to infiltrate Beacon Academy but he doesn't know exactly why and he has no… religious knowledge regarding our operations"

"You mean that we serve the Queen of the Grimm?"

"Precisely. I do not know how he would react to that particular detail, so it would be for the best if you avoided mentioning that."

"Understood." Cinder nodded, even though her interlocutor had no way to see that. "Can you arrange a meeting between him and me?"

"As a matter of fact, I already did. He will be waiting for you in a bar few streets west. I will send the location to your scroll and you can go there right away if you wish to."

"I appre…" Cinder started, before realizing something. "Wait, you know where I am? Right now?"

"Yes, in fact. Your scroll makes you fairly easy to track, as long as you are within several miles of the Cross Continental Transit Tower."

"You have access to the CCT system?" Cinder asked, though better question came to her mind immediately afterwards. "You are tracking my scroll?"

"As for the first question, yes, though it is not a direct access by any means. I can read most of the data, but I am afraid any attempt to manipulate the system itself would lead to my worms being spotted."

"As for the second question, I thought it was obvious that I would have some way to pinpoint your location." Watts continued. "It is an extremely important mission you have undertook and any precaution we take is justified."

"Oh well, silly me. I did not expect my allies to start spying on me, but I guess trust is simply too old-fashioned for the likes of you."

"Don't be so dramatic." In all likelihood, Watts was rolling his eyes right now. "I only track your location so that we can stage a rescue if you were to suddenly disappear or call for help. My knowledge about your plans ends there."

"As it should." Cinder replied sharply. "If you need an update on my progress, just call and ask. Other than that, leave me to my own work."

"That work is not only yours. All of us had to put in some work to get you started and all of us will feet the consequences should you fail. Speaking of which, is there any more work I should do on your behalf?"

Cinder really wanted to say that she didn't need any more help, that she had things handled and would do well regardless of Watts' input. But there was something she very much _did_ need help with.

"Devoid Prison Complex. I have to break out a prisoner from there." Cinder could swear she heard a very faint sigh through the scroll. "Can you send me some plans? I have people well-suited to this kind of job, but I need some intel as well."

"It shouldn't be too hard given the size of my network. I will send whatever plans I can find to your scroll by the evening. Just make sure that you end up successful and that we are not simply wasting our time and effort." With those polite words, Watts disconnected.

Cinder's irritation gave way to a twinge of guilt. Watts was correct on one point at least – he and other members of Salem's cabal did do quite a lot to help Cinder on her quest, even before the doctor arranged for another potential teammate. They deserved to know how her endeavor was going and she wouldn't deny them that knowledge. She didn't mind the tracker either, as it was a reasonable precaution to take, she just didn't like being kept in the dark very much.

And yes, she realized just how hypocritical of her that was.

Still, Emerald didn't really need to know all of their plans just yet. Keeping her unaware for at least a couple more days was the right call to make, no matter how crappy it might have felt.

These thoughts occupied Cinder's mind as she headed back towards Torchwick's flat. Upon entering, she saw that both Emerald and Neo were still inside and not fighting, though they looked at each other intensely, as if either of them was expecting the other one to attack at any moment.

"I have some good news." Cinder said, causing Emerald to glance in her direction. "It looks like our forces are larger than we thought."

"How much larger?" If Cinder thought she could excite or even reassure Emerald in that manner, then she clearly had been wrong. The green-haired girl was still visibly skeptical and pessimistic regarding their little undertaking. Not that she could be faulted for it, as she wasn't exactly wrong

"One person, but a highly skilled one. An assassin that has agreed to join our cause."

"Huh. I suppose someone like that could come in handy. Do you trust him though?"

"My contact trust him." Cinder replied evasively.

"Do you trust your contact?" Emerald asked, looking straight into Cinder's eyes. The golden-eyed woman had to think about how to respond for a second – did she really trust Watts and the others?

Kind of. Not really. In a way. They definitely seemed loyal to Salem, judging from how they acted around her, but that did not truly mean that they were loyal to Cinder as well. It could mean the exact opposite if it turned out that Cinder's goals were truly incompatible with the ones that the Queen of the Grimm had in mind.

"I take that as a no." Emerald remarked after several seconds of silence.

"It's complicated." Cinder sighed. "Let's say that I trust them in that particular instance and I think it would be worth it if we at least talked to the person he recommended me. That person is waiting for us in a nearby bar as we speak, by the way."

"Alright. So we go there in.. who exactly goes there?" Emerald glanced at Neo nervously. "No offence to our new friend, but I'm not sure how much we can trust her yet."

In response, Neo smiled innocently, as though she wanted her companions to know that she would never try to deceive or betray them. Emerald didn't seem particularly convinced, and really neither was Cinder.

"We will all go together." Cinder ruled. "This way we will be better prepared for an ambush of any kind, not to mention it's just more fair if we attend important matters together."

Neo smiled and took off an umbrella from a nearby hook, indicating that she is eager and ready to go. Emerald seemed less enthusiastic, as she simply shrugged in agreement.

"I guess the three of us will be safe this way. You want to go right now?"

Cinder nodded and walked towards the door. Emerald and Neo followed, the three women exiting the apartment together.

 _And just like that, my army has doubled in size._

 _/-/_

Crow Bar. That was the name of a pub in which Mercury Black was supposed to wait for them. The three women had no problem locating the place, as the bar's name war written on a huge banner in all its awfulness.

To be fair, the name fit the establishment perfectly, as the two of them were just about equally awful. 'Crow Bar' was a small pub situated in what looked to be an abandoned garage, situated in a rather poorly-maintained alley. Multiple overfilled trash cans stood near the entrance to the pub, creating an aesthetically unpleasing image, at least in Cinder's subjective view.

"So, this is the place." Emerald said, just as unimpressed as her superior, it seemed. "I mean, I've seen worse, but I expected something more climactic."

"It's meant to be inconspicuous." Cinder replied. "Though I don't really like the smell either."

As if to express her support, Neo held her nose. She then looked at Cinder expectantly, as though to ask what was she supposed to do.

"I think you should stay in reserve." Cinder answered the unspoken question. "You can listen in to our conversations, but don't reveal yourself until I tell you."

Neo didn't appear to have any problem with getting excluded from the talks like that, maybe because listening was all she could really do anyways. She gave Cinder a thumbs up and then disappeared in a brief flash of light.

Cinder blinked. Was that some creative use of illusions, or did Neo's powers involve teleportation as well? Either way, it looked like the girl hit the jackpot in the semblance lottery.

Why did some people get universally useful and powerful semblances, while Cinder lacked one and had to compensate with magical jewelry? It was so unfair.

"So, the two of us go in, right?" Emerald asked, snapping Cinder out of her musings. The raven-haired woman nodded and walked towards the bar, the thief walking behind her.

The interior of the pub reflected its overall quality well, in that there were only two people inside. One of them was the bartender, a middle-aged man in a working uniform, clearly bored due to the lack of customers. The other was a young man, maybe twenty years old, drinking a cup of beer. He was well-built, had unkempt grey hair and a semblance of a stubble. He didn't react to the new arrivals in any overt way, but Cinder noticed he had shifted slightly in his seat.

 _He has his guard up. Just as could be expected from a paid killer._ Somewhat tense herself, Cinder walked over to the counter and took a seat on the young man's left, Emerald sitting on the right instead.

If the boy found himself threatened by two potentially dangerous people surrounding him - or if he was excited by rather attractive women approaching him from both sides - he didn't let that show. He calmly finished his drink, before slamming his cup on the table.

Reacting to the loud sound, the bartender pulled himself off from cleaning the glasses and approached the trio.

"Welcome to my humble place. Would you like anything?" Bartender's eyes were jumping back and forth, as though he didn't know whether to focus on one of the new customers, a customer who had been there for a while, or the dark-skinned girl's cleavage. "Any of you?"

Emerald simply glared at the man with contempt. Cinder was just about to state that she wouldn't be drinking, but the boy next to her spoke first.

"Pour me another shot. And get some wine for the lady." He gestured at Cinder to specify which 'lady' he meant. It was a hidden message - he recognized Cinder as the leader there. That, or he actually thought he could gain her interest by funding her some cheap wine.

What really mattered was that he was willing to talk at all. This way Cinder could, at the very least, determine if he was worth the trouble.

The bartender nodded and, after waiting a couple seconds for any other orders, headed towards the shelves.

The grey-haired boy kept his sight on the older man."Talking here might be a bit of a problem." He said, wincing slightly.

Cinder knew exactly what the assassin meant. The pub was mostly empty and not particularly large, so every word they said would be heard by the bartender as well. Cinder didn't wish to be heard discussing spying, prison breaks or any other criminal activities, but luckily, she had a convenient solution at hand.

"Emerald, can you let the two of us talk in peace?" She asked her associate, looking her straight in the eye. Emerald caught the hidden meaning and focused her gaze on the bartender. There were no visual or audible effects, but it was clear that the thief was now using her semblance.

"Nice." The assassin made a quick comment. Cinder hoped that he was simply pretending to know what was happening – him knowing how Emerald's semblance worked would make him a much tougher opponent should he decide to attack the two of them.

The young man then slowly turned towards Cinder. He had violet eyes which were now looking at the person in front of him judgingly. "You are Cinder Fall, right?"

"In the flesh." Cinder replied. "And you are Mercury Black, I presume?"

"Who's that?" The boy rolled his eyes. "Sure I am. Doctor Watts told me to meet you here. Said you have some very ambitious plans and need people to help you out."

"Ambitious is one way to put it. Currently I'm looking for a way to break into Devoid Prison." Cinder said, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from the topic of the main mission. She did not want Emerald to find out about Beacon yet, especially not in these circumstances.

"Devoid? That might be a tough nut to crack." Luckily, Mercury seemed to had taken the hint, as he didn't mention Beacon in any way. "Plus it's not the kind of job I usually do."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, what kind of job are you used to performing? My contact didn't tell me much about you."

"I rarely tell people much about myself." Mercury replied. "But since we will be working together for a while, I'll make an exception. What would you like to know?"

 _Why did you agree to this?_ A question immediately came to Cinder's mind, but she couldn't really ask it without bringing up Beacon and their task there. She therefore settled for a less important question, but one that she still really wanted to know to answer to.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but how does someone become an assassin before the age of..."

"Nineteen. I have been training since I was a small child, and training hard. My father was quite determined to make me into a perfect fighter. Wanted me to follow in his footsteps."

"So he was a paid killer as well?" Cinder asked, before she remembered to bite her tongue. She risked getting Mercury offended by talking about his parent this way.

"Yup. One of the best butchers in the business." The boy replied, not seeming at all bothered by Cinder's choice of words. "Still, when the time came, he proved himself not good enough."

"Oh. What happened?" Cinder asked softly. Mercury's personal live wasn't really her business, but she figured that showing some sympathy was appropriate in this situation.

"I killed him and dumped his corpse into a river." The boy said casually. His lips twisted slightly in a smirk, resulting in a rather unsettling impression. "In my defense, he more than deserved it."

"I see..." Cinder said, lacking any better reply.

"What? You're going to shower me with pity, or are you going to point out how terrible I am for killing my own father?" Mercury asked. He was still trying to sound collected, but there was an audible tone of anger in his voice - something to be expected with a sensitive topic like that.

"Neither. I would not insult you with pity and I fully believe that you had a sufficient reason to kill that man." Cinder replied, weighing her words carefully but not being dishonest in the slightest. She knew how humiliating it could be to have someone else pity you and she wouldn't judge Mercury based on this particular information. Family members were often the worst enemies a person had - Cinder was fully aware of that.

"Heh." Mercury leaned back, more relaxed than a moment ago. "Out of curiosity, what would you have said if I hadn't had a good reason? Because I'm not sure if every person I've killed had it coming."

"So you kill people even when you think they might had not deserved that?" Cinder answered question with another question. "Doesn't that weigh on your conscience or anything?"

"Not really." Mercury shrugged. "Most people I am paid to kill aren't exactly upstanding citizens. They're mostly either crime bosses or some pieces of crap on government's payroll. I guess some of them deserved to live, but I'm pretty sure I'm doing Remnant a favor overall. Now answer my question."

Cinder pondered about what answer she was supposed to give. Saying that she didn't care about innocent people getting murdered would be a blatant lie... but working with someone who killed people in the past was a rather minor sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. She was not going to let the past sabotage the future like that.

"All that matters is that you do not take any lives without a reason while under my payroll." She finally replied. "I'm not going to lecture you about your past as long as you keep your cool in the present."

"Professional attitude then. I like it." Mercury smiled, seemingly satisfied with Cinder's answer. "Maybe you're not as bad as Watts said you would be."

"Oh? What did Watts say about me?" Cinder asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Um, nothing too bad." For the first time during their conversation, Mercury seemed somewhat nervous. "Just that you have a slight aversion to acting rationally and you have severe messiah complex, or something like that."

Cinder glared at the boy before her.

"Anyway, let's return to business matters." Mercury hastily changed the subject. "Why do you want us to break into Devoid?"

"There is a person I want to drag out of there." Cinder replied, deciding to let go of her annoyance. "Ever heard of Roman Torchwick?"

"He got caught?" Mercury asked surprised and then whistled quietly. "Poor asshole. They will not go easy on him after all the crap he's pulled off."

"Which is why we need to break him out. We began preparations already, but we have no concrete plan yet."

"Which means you have nothing." Mercury commented. "The plan is always the first thing to think about, especially when you're doing something as difficult as that."

"You like having a plan? Forgive me for saying that, but you don't seem like someone who thinks about the future very much, risking your life at such a young age at all."

"You don't seem much older than me and neither does your partner." Mercury pointed out. "But you're right, I prefer living in the moment. But you simply need to make plans if you want to ever achieve anything."

Cinder could get behind those words. She recognized the value of careful planning and always knew exactly what she was about to do in the near future. Right now she intended to seal the deal with Mercury, launch an attack on Devoid Prison in some yet unspecified manner and hopefully get Torchwick out of there. Assuming that the attack succeeded and that nobody died in the process, she could then ask Neo to attend Beacon with the rest of them and she whether or not she would agree. Assuming that Emerald didn't quit upon learning the truth about Cinder's plans and they didn't expose themselves during the attack, they could then play their part as fresh Beacon students, assuming that neither Mercury nor Neo were particularly recognizable after all the crimes they likely committed...

Well, just because Cinder liked planning didn't mean that she was any good at it.

"You 're right, we have nothing as of now." She conceded. "But we didn't have much time to prepare anything since we learned of Torchwick's location. With more time on our hands, we should be able to figure something out. If not, we will simply abort the operation. Which I would very much like to avoid, of course." The last sentence was spoken loudly, just so that Neo wouldn't mishear anything. The girl's cooperation relied solely on whether or not she thought working with Cinder would mean getting her partner back.

"Right." Mercury seemed surprised by Cinder raising her voice all the sudden, but didn't comment on it openly. "I don't mind waiting for a while until that operation of yours begins. I'll need some to spend that entrance fee Watts gave me anyway."

"We will probably need several days to sort all that out. If you want to be useful in that time period, you can help us plan the attack or train…" Cinder paused. "Actually, I am not sure what you specialize in."

"Killing jerks." Mercury replied briefly.

"I was hoping for something more specific. As in, how you go about killing jerks."

"Usually by shooting them." Mercury shrugged. "I know how silly that sounds, but there is really no philosophy there. I just take the most efficient path, which often ends up being firing a bullet and running off. No need to be fancy."

"Well, we will probably have to shoot a lot of thing in the future, so you are more than welcome." Cinder extended her hand towards Mercury. "May I consider you a part of the team now?"

"Actually, I think I'll pass." Mercury rolled his eyes. "I already got paid.

In spite of the sarcastic answer she got, Cinder kept her hand outstretched. Mercury rolled his eyes once more, but he eventually reciprocated the gesture.

"It is official then." Cinder declared and then turned towards Emerald. "You can stop now. We're done talking about important matters."

Emerald, breathed a sigh of relief. She was clearly tired from having to keep up her illusions for so long, at least if the bags under her eyes were any indication. Upon being freed from the enchantment, the barman froze in place for a second, but resumed working immediately afterwards.

"Are we done here?" The green-haired girl asked, clearly anxious to leave this depressing place.

"Yes. I think we will be leaving now." Cinder said loudly, so that everyone including Neo could hear her. "We have things to do and we may return here some other time."

"Please do!" The bartender called out.

"Please do not." Emerald groaned.

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury all stood up from their chairs and headed for the exit. Despite everything, it almost felt bad to leave the bar empty like that, especially since they didn't even get to drink anything.

Wait…

"Hey, I don't think I got this shot I asked for." Mercury said once they were all outside. He then turned towards Cinder. "Did you get your wine?"

Cinder shook her head and glared at Emerald. Mercury followed suite, giving the green-haired girl an offended look.

"I made him believe that he brought you those drinks even though he really didn't. So?" Emerald shrugged. "By getting drunk you would be risking spilling some secret out or doing something even dumber. I think I did you two a favor."

"That went on my tab." Mercury groaned. "You will pay me for this… what's your name again?"

"Emerald. And it's not 'again', since you never bothered to ask."

"Why would I?" This time, Mercury shrugged. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem content to follow orders and keep your mouth shut."

Emerald apparently couldn't think of any good retort, as she simply glared at Mercury angrily while moving her hand slowly towards her hip when the gun

Damn it. It seemed as though Mercury and Emerald didn't get along with each other too well. That could become a real problem the moment they would have to fight shoulder to shoulder, and that moment would come eventually.

"Stop it." Cinder ordered, trying her best to sound firm. "We have more than enough lien to pay for a glass of wine or two. Let's focus on the matters that are even remotely important, shall we?"

"Alright." Emerald removed her hand from the gun. "Let's talk about out multi-colored friend. Where is she right now?"

As Mercury opened his mouth to ask about said friend and Cinder opened her mouth to answer it, Neo appeared between them. Just like that, she teleported right before Mercury's eyes, causing the assassin to jump in place and quickly assume a combat stance.

While it was certainly funny to see her new coworker so startled, Cinder couldn't approve of Neo's entrance. She was, after all, risking a completely unnecessary fight breaking out if Mercury failed to keep his cool.

"Mercury, that's our coworker Neo. Neo, Mercury. We will be working together from now on." Cinder was quick to introduce the two of them to each other and to emphasize that they were not to start a fight. It seeming worked, as Neo approached Mercury, smiled broadly and extended a hand towards him – a gesture which the boy awkwardly reciprocated.

"Um, nice to meet you." He said uncertainly and then turned back towards Cinder. "Look, can we talk in private? As in, without other people listening in?"

Cinder nodded. "Neo, Emerald, head back to the lair. We will join you soon, just give us a few minutes."

Emerald gave Cinder a concerned glare, one that expressed doubt whether it was safe for her to be left alone with their new associate. Cinder responded with another nod, as she truly did believe that mercury wouldn't try anything fishy… not now that he had met Neo and knew that she could teleport right behind him at any moment.

After that silent exchange, Emerald turned around and marched off, Neo walking in her footsteps. Cinder and Mercury watched them go for a few moments, not wanting to start a conversation until they were certain it wouldn't be overheard – at least not by anyone interested in its contents.

"How much do they know?" Mercury asked, moving straight to the point.

"They know that we are about to break out Torchwick and they know that I have further, potentially more ambitious plans. I did not share much information with them, but I intend to

"It sounds risky, but I won't judge you. I never worked in a team so I don't really know how to manage one. And I have more important question as well." Mercury's eyes narrowed slightly. "How much do I know?"

"Not everything." Cinder admitted. "But I haven't told you any lies and I do not intend to. If I ever do, you should feel free to leave as long as you do not tell on us or anything like that."

"I won't. Look, I'm not asking because I need to know everything about your plans." Mercury replied. "As I said, all these moral aspects of killing don't interest me, so your goals are really none of my business. I just want to be sure that I won't be less effective because I don't know some important detail."

"Trust me, you'll know everything you need to know and more." Cinder assured her coworker. "But there are some things I really do not want anyone to know about."

"You've got a couple skeletons in your closet, huh?" Mercury asked, a teasing smile on his face. "Don't worry, I won't be sniffing around."

Those words hurt Cinder unexpectedly. While she wasn't really hiding anything from fear of judgment, she _had_ done some things that could only be described as shady. Right now she was working for an ancient horror, surrounded by criminals and supported by madmen. It didn't feel very heroic.

But then again, she wasn't trying to feel like a hero. She wanted to do some good, even if she had to resort to some unsound methods.

"I appreciate it." Cinder said after a moment. "Now let's join the girls before they start scheming against us, shall we?"

Mercury nodded. The assassin and the infiltrator then turned in one direction and followed into their criminal lair, the sun slowly setting down behind their backs.

* * *

 **Now, some of you might wonder why I introduced Mercury as a semi-experienced assassin instead of having him be found by Cinder and Emerald upon killing his father like in the original. There are actually multiple reasons for that. First, and the most pragmatic, is that it would make no sense for C &E to look for Marcus Black if they were looking specifically for young fighters to sneak into Beacon. Second reason is that I wanted Watts to be useful, to show that Cinder is getting some support from Salem's faction after all. And thirdly, well… I just wanted to use the Crow Bar as a location. Don't judge please.**

 **Or do judge. I always appreciate some reviews.**


End file.
